Presents
Johann Schobert
Quartet in E flat Major, Op.14 No.1
For Piano, 2 Violins & Cello or Piano, Violin, Viola & Cello-Modern Edition
Not a great deal about Johann Schobert (circa 1720-1767) is known. He was born somewhere in Silesia, then part of the Austrian Habsburg Empire sometime around 1720. He pursued a career as a pianist and composer, primarily in Paris where he spent most of his life and died after eating some poisonous mushrooms. Contemporaries considered his compositions the equal to those of C.P.E. Bach. He came to the attention of music historians because of his intersection with the six year old Wolfgang Mozart whom he met while Wolfgang and his father Leopold were residing in that city. Schobert's music influenced the young Mozart to a considerable extent, so much so, that Mozart borrowed several movements from Schobert's piano sonatas for use in his own concertos.
The Quartet for 2 Violins, Cello and Piano in E flat Major is the first of a set of six works for varying instrumental combinations, which were published in Paris in the early 1760's. They are rather interesting not only because they are a definite link between the older baroque sonata form and the emerging modern piano quartet but also because Schobert's handling of the parts was rather advanced for the time. The work is in three movements. It begins with an Allegro assai in which the strings are muted, giving the music a rather dense quality.The middle movement is a Polonaise which is dominated more by its rhythm than melody. The work ends typically in the French style for the time with a Menuetto.
This is a historically valuable work but also one which can stand on its own merits. We have also provided a viola part in lieu of violin 2 to make the work more accessible to piano quartet ensembles.
(A) 2 Violins, Viola, Cello & Piano $14.95 (B) Violin, Viola, Cello & Piano $14.95 (C) All Five Parts $19.95
