Antonín Kraft Antonín Kraft (30 December 1749, Rokycany – 28 August 1820,''Wiener Zeitung'', 1 September 1820, p.799
/ref> Vienna) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was a close friend of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. He worked in the Holy Roman Empire and later in the Austrian Empire.

Biography

Kraft was born in the

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n town of

Rokycany Rokycany (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zone. Admini ...

of a German Bohemian ethnic family which had assimilated into Czech. He received early musical education on the cello from his father before going to university in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to study law. He soon obtained a position in the Imperial Hofkapelle. In 1778 he was appointed cellist in Prince

Nikolaus Esterházy Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In turn, the nam ...

's orchestra, where he met and studied composition with Haydn. In 1783 Haydn wrote his second cello concerto in D (Hob. VIIb/2, Op. 101) for Kraft. In 1789, he met

in Dresden and took part in the premiere of his divertimento for string trio in E-Flat. Mozart played the viola part and

Anton Teyber Anton Teyber (8 September 1756 (bapt.) – 18 November 1822) was an Austrian organist, Kapellmeister and composer. Anton Teyber was born and died in Vienna. His brother was Franz Teyber. He taught the children of the Holy Roman Emperor before w ...

played the violin part. After Esterházy died in 1790, his successor, Prince Anton Esterházy, dismissed most of the court orchestra. Kraft went to Vienna and became a founding member of the

Schuppanzigh Quartet The Schuppanzigh Quartet was a string quartet formed in Vienna in the 1790s by the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh. It continued, with breaks and changes of membership, for many years. Schuppanzigh was a close friend and admirer of Ludwig van Beethove ...

, where he helped establish the traditions of

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

playing. He played in the Grassalkovich court and from 1796 was employed in the orchestra of Prince

Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowitz (also spelled ''Lobkowicz'') (8 December 1772 – 16 December 1816

. He died on 28 August 1820 in Vienna. Kraft was considered one of the greatest cellists of his time and both Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in D, the cello part in

’s divertimento for string trio in E-Flat and the cello part in Beethoven's Triple Concerto were written for him, though his son

Nikolaus Kraft Nikolaus Kraft (14 December 1778, Eszterháza, Hungary – 18 May 1853, Cheb, Bohemia) was an Austrian cellist and composer (six cello concertos). He was the son of Antonín Kraft, under whom he first studied. He then trained under Jean-Louis Dup ...

is also claimed to have played the premiere of the latter. As a composer, he wrote cello

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s (six for cello with bass published as Op. 1 and 2) and a cello concerto (Op. 4). He also wrote various duos: for

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and cello (Op. 3), for cello and

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

and for two cellos (Op. 5 and 6).

Works

* Op.1: 3 Cello Sonatas in C, G, D * Op.2: 3 Cello Sonatas in B♭, G, C * Op.3: 3 Grand Duos for Violin and Cello * Op.4: Cello Concerto in C major * Op.5: Cello Duo in G minor * Op.6: Cello Duo in D major * Op.7: Cello Duet on the theme from Mozart's Opera The Magic Flute ('Duettino Tamina and Papageno') * Duets for Cello and Guitar * Cello Concerto in C major "Seydel's Concerto"

References

External links

* * 1749 births 1820 deaths 18th-century musicians from Bohemia Composers from the Austrian Empire 18th-century composers from the Holy Roman Empire 19th-century classical musicians 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 19th-century Czech classical composers Austrian Classical-period composers Czech male classical composers Czech classical cellists Esterházy family People from Rokycany Pupils of Joseph Haydn 19th-century Czech male musicians {{Composer-stub