Joseph Martin Kraus Joseph Martin Kraus

Joseph Martin Kraus (20 June 1756 – 15 December 1792), was a composer in the classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He has been referred to as "the Swedish Mozart", and had a life span which was very similar to that of Mozart.

Musical output

Works

Bertil H. van Boer divides Kraus's sacred music into two periods. The first, from 1768 to 1777, comprises Kraus's music written as a Roman Catholic for Catholic services. For the second, from 1778 to 1790, Kraus was still Catholic, but wrote music for Lutheran services. Aside from short hymns and chorales, there was not much use for sacred music in Sweden at that time. There was also a debate going on regarding the role music should play in the church, and Kraus participated in that debate by writing three articles on the subject in the Stockholms Posten.

Two different catalogues exist of Kraus's music, one by Karl Schreiber, Verzeichnis der Musikalischen Werke von Jos. Kraus's, which gives each composition an A number, and Bertil van Boer's Die Werke von Joseph Martin Kraus: Systematisch-thematisches Werkverzeichnis, which gives each composition a VB number. See the list of compositions by Joseph Martin Kraus.

Bertil van Boer also edited modern editions, on Artaria, recorded on 4 volumes of the Naxos Records complete set of Kraus symphonies, and also wrote the programme notes for those discs as well as the article on Kraus in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Volume 1 won the Cannes Classical Award in 1999, while Volume 2 contains world première recordings of three of Kraus's symphonies. The orchestra Concerto Köln won several prizes for its recordings on period instruments of the complete symphonies of Joseph Martin Kraus.

Musical style

Kraus's music is characterized by sudden dramatic contrasts in register, character, and most striking of all, harmony. His contrapuntal abilities were first-rate, but his motivic development does not seem as advanced as either Mozart's or Haydn's. Compared to other contemporaries, his lyrical gifts are apparent.

Kraus's symphonies

Many of Kraus's symphonies have been lost, or attributed to other composers. Of those definitely of Kraus's authorship, only about a dozen remain. Most of Kraus's extant symphonies are in three movements, without a minuet. Most are scored for two horns and strings, many include two flutes and two oboes, while the later ones also include two bassoons and two additional horns. The musicologist Bertil van Boer identifies Kraus's Symphony in C-sharp minor as "one of only two symphonies in this key written during the eighteenth century." It was later reworked in a more 'manageable' key as Symphony in C minor, VB 142.

It is still disputed whether the symphony dedicated to Haydn was the Symphony in D major VB 143 or the Symphony in C minor VB 142. The minor key and the mood of Symphony VB 142 seem to be reminiscent of Haydn's Sturm und Drang period around 1770, comparable with his earlier minor-key works, although based on the first measures of Gluck's overture to Iphigénie en Aulide. In any case, Haydn had a very high opinion of the work. Many years after Kraus's death, Haydn remarked to a common friend, Swedish diplomat Fredrik Samuel Silverstolpe:

"The symphony he wrote here in Vienna especially for me will be regarded as a masterpiece for centuries to come; believe me, there are few people who can compose something like that."

Kraus Viola Concerti

Kraus wrote two viola concerti that were lost or attributed to other composers in his lifetime. The C-Major Concerto was attributed to Roman Hoffstetter, and both works were recently found to be Kraus's compositions and were recorded professionally by David Aaron Carpenter. ([1]) Joseph Kraus's two viola concertos and his concerto for viola, cello, and orchestra are on an Ondine CD (ODE 1193-2), which is 61 minutes long.

Chamber music

Kraus's chamber music includes quartets, solo sonatas, and sonatas for violin and piano.