Bernhard Molique (''Wilhelm Bernhard Molique;'' 7 October 180210 May 1869) was a German violinist and composer.
Biography
He was born in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
. His father was a musician and the boy studied various instruments, but finally devoted himself to the violin. In 1815, he received some lessons from
Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, t ...
, and then studied the violin for two years at the
University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
under
Pietro Rovelli.
Career
In 1820, Molique succeeded Rovelli as court violinist in Munich and, after several successful tours, in 1826 he became music director at
Stuttgart. His pupils there included the violinist
Henry Blagrove and the violinist, conductor and composer
Alfred Mellon
Alfred Mellon (7 April 1820 – 24 March 1867) was a British violinist, conductor and composer.
Mellon was born in Birmingham, to a French father. At the age of 12 he joined the band at the Theatre Royal in that town, becoming leader at 1 ...
. Molique was well received on a visit to London when he played his own Piano Concerto No 5 on 14 May 1840. He visited England several other times before settling in London from 1849 until 1866. He died in
Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...
in 1869.
Compositions
As a composer, Molique was unapologetically self-taught. His music displays the influence of Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn and, especially,
Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, t ...
. The then radical developments represented by
Berlioz (who publicly praised his violin playing) and the
New German School
The New German School (german: link=no, Neudeutsche Schule, ) is a term introduced in 1859 by Franz Brendel, editor of the ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'', to describe certain trends in German music. Although the term has frequently been used in ...
(german: Neudeutschen Schule) left Molique untouched, however.
As well as the five piano concertos Molique wrote six violin concertos (the fifth especially admired by Joachim) and a popular ''Cello Concerto'' that was successfully played in
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...
, by
Léon Jacquard, conducted by
Hector Berlioz, on August 27, 1860. He also wrote a Symphony (1837–42), eight string quartets, the Piano Trio op.27 (championed by Hans von Bülow) and the Concertina Concerto
as well an oratorio ''Abraham'' (performed in England, 1861), two masses and many songs.
Selected Compositions
*Chamber music
**String Quartets, Opp. 16 (in G) and 17 (the latter in C minor)
**Three String Quartets, Op. 18 (published 1843)
**First grand trio concertante for piano, violin and violoncello, Op. 27
[Library of the Univ Bibl Johann Christian Senckenberg]
**Sixth String Quartet, Op. 28 in F minor
**Quintet for flute, violin, violas, violoncello, Op. 35, D major
**Seventh String Quartet in B-flat major Op. 42 (published 1854)
**Eighth String Quartet, Op. 44 in A minor (published by Kistner of Leipzig by 1853)
**Second Piano Trio, Op. 52 in F major (published 1858)
[Juilliard School Library.]
**Sonata for Concertina and Piano, Op. 57 (1857)
**Piano Quartet, Op. 71 in E-flat major (published 1870)
*Concertante works
**Concertino in F minor for violin, Op. 1
**Violin Concerto no. 1 in E major Op. 4 (published 1830)
**Violin Concerto no. 2 in A major, Op. 9 (published 1833)
**Violin Concerto no. 3 in D minor, Op. 10
**Violin Concerto no. 4 in D major Op. 14 (published 1839)
**Violin Concerto no. 5 in A minor, Op. 21 (published 1845)
**Violin Concerto no. 6 in E minor Op. 30 (c. 1847?)
**Cello Concerto in D, Op. 45 (published 1854)
**Concertino for Oboe and Orchestra in G minor
**Flute Concerto in D minor, Op. 69
**Clarinet Concerto in F minor, 1824
**6 Flying leaves op. 50 (1856)
**Serenade and Six characteristic pieces op. 61 (1859)
**6 Songs without words for concertina and harp
**Concerto No. 1 in G op. 46 for concertina and string orchestra (1854)
**Concerto No. 2 for concertina and string orchestra (1861)
*Oratorio
**''Abraham'', Op. 65 (1860)
*Liturgical
**
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
in F minor, op. 22.(published 1846.)
[Dates from searches at Hofmeisters Monatsbericht online (http://www.hofmeister.rhul.ac.uk ).][Library of Congress listing.]
Notes
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Molique, Bernhard
1802 births
1869 deaths
German Romantic composers
Composers for concertina
German classical violinists
Male classical violinists
Musicians from Nuremberg
19th-century classical composers
German male classical composers
19th-century German composers
19th-century classical violinists
German violinists
German male violinists
19th-century German male musicians
String quartet composers