Presents
Peter Hänsel
String Quartet in e minor, Op.17 No.1---New Edition
Peter Hänsel (sometimes spelled Haensel, 1770-1831) was born in the town Leppe in what was then Prussian Silesia. He was trained as a violinist and worked in Warsaw and St. Petersburg before obtaining employment in Vienna where he studied composition with Haydn during the 1790’s. Other than two years he spent in Paris during 1802-1803, his entire life was spent in Vienna, working as a violinist and composer. He devoted himself almost exclusively to the genre of chamber music, writing nearly 60 string quartets, 6 string trios, 5 string quintets and works for several other small ensembles. His style remained firmly rooted in the classical era and is closely related to that of his teacher Haydn but he also introduced French and Polish elements into his works, the result of his sojourning in those lands.
Op.17 No.1 is the first of a set of three string quartets published in Bonn by the firm of Simrock in 1809. The title page, which is in French, states that the three quartets were composed by Pierre Hansel and dedicated to Jean Zimmer, counselor and magistrate. The dedicatee was in actuality Johann Georg Zimmer, a politician and publisher in Frankfurt who published the first edition of Des Knaben Wunderhorn. In four movements, the quartet begins with the unusual and rarely used tempo marking Allegro sensibile, which in Italian generally means tender, . The music seems to bear little relation to the marking. Not quite turbulent, it cannot be called tender. The second movement, Menuetto allegro, is a typical Haydnesque minute. The trio section is a lively ländler which provides a nice contrast. The Andante which follows is a kind of stately folktune. The finale, Allegro, is a toe-tapping Hungarian rondo.
Our new edition, which was edited by senior editor Raymond Silvertrust, is based on the original edition by Simrock. This is an appealing work from the late classical era which can be recommended to both amateurs and professionals. It would make an excellent replacement on a concert program for a Haydn
Parts: $24.95
Parts & Score: $33.95
