Vaclav Jan Tomásek was the center of musical life in Prague in the early nineteenth century, but is barely known at all today. He had little formal musical education, but studied the music and writings of the great German and Austrian composers on his own and as composer and music tutor for the family of Count Buquoy. He had been taken on by the family after the success of his song "Lenore," and his reputation is now based mostly on his songs and small piano works. Most of his few large, orchestral works were never ...
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Vaclav Jan Tomásek was the center of musical life in Prague in the early nineteenth century, but is barely known at all today. He had little formal musical education, but studied the music and writings of the great German and Austrian composers on his own and as composer and music tutor for the family of Count Buquoy. He had been taken on by the family after the success of his song "Lenore," and his reputation is now based mostly on his songs and small piano works. Most of his few large, orchestral works were never published, and they have low opus numbers, indicating that he recognized that his talents were better spent on the vocal and keyboard arenas. The two piano concertos on this disc are his only concertos. It is believed that both date from around 1803 to 1805. One was published, but the other was not. Both demonstrate how thoroughly Tomásek had absorbed the conventions of composition of his day, showing very little innovation over the Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven to that date, or Hummel. The...
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