Presents

Johann Nisle

String Quartet No.1 in g minor

Johann Nisle (1780-1873), who also went by Jean when in France or Giovanni when in Italy, came from a family of musicians. He was born in the German town of Neuwied, located in Rheinland-Pfalz. His father Johannes Nisle was a virtuoso horn player and Johann followed in his footsteps and was already taking part in public concerts as a hornist along with his father and brother at the age of seven. He subsequently studied piano and composition with Heinrich Koch in Rudolstadt. By 1800, prominent German publishers were already bringing out his works. In 1805, he began the first of his many trips which, over the course of his long life, took him to Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Trieste, Naples, Catania in Sicily, Basel, Bonn, Koblenz, Dusseldorf, Breslau, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Paris, London, and Amsterdam to name only some of the places where he lived and where he would settle for a few months, and in some cases a few years, supporting himself as a music teacher and composer. During his travels, he met and befriended several prominent composers including Weber, Haydn, Beethoven, Rossini and Cherubini. His restlessness and desire to keep traveling kept him on the road every few years. He died during his last trip on the way to Paris at the age of 93!

He is thought to have composed over 100 works in most genres, among these are two string quartets. Judging from the title page of the original edition, which we have reprinted, we believe the quartets were composed sometime around 1810. His String Quartet No.1 in g minor has four movements. A turbulent Allegro appassionato opens the work. The second movement, Andante quasi allegretto, has for its main subject, a pretty, naïve folk melody. Third comes a thrusting Menuetto allegretto, certainly not the kind of minuet to which one could dance. There is a lovely contrasting ländler trio section. The finale is a rousing Allegro.

This is a well-written classical era work. Good as a substitute for a Haydn, but not at all hard to play as Nisle wrote with an eye to the emerging home music-making market as a way to support himself. We have reprinted the original from a clean copy and is not a problem to read although it is not like a new edition (one is available for more than 5 times what we ask).

Parts: $19.95