Johann Nepomuk Hummel (YO-hahn  NEP-o-muk  HUM-mel)

Born November 14, 1778 in Pressburg (now Bratislava), Slovakia

Died October 17, 1837

Nationality: Austrian

Period/Style: Classical

About the composer:

Hummel was an Austrian composer of Slovak origins.  He was born into a musical family.  His father taught music and conducted an orchestra.  The great composer Mozart was so impressed with Hummel’s musical ability that he offered him private music lessons at the age of seven, free of charge.  Soon after that Hummel began to travel all over Europe giving concerts.  Besides playing the piano, he composed lots of music and was considered a very important composer of the Classical period.  He wrote lots of music for piano, since that was the instrument he knew best, but he also wrote a trumpet concerto, some operas, music for choir, and ballet music.

About the music:

Concertino for Piano & Orchestra in G Major (16 min)

Today we’re going to hear one of the shorter piano/orchestra works written by Hummel. It’s in the form of a concerto from the Classical period (three movements: fast-slow-fast) but is much shorter in length than a full-scale concerto.  Listen to the cheerful theme in the first movement, a theme with variations in the second movement, and a sparkling theme in the third movement.  Notice how the pianist’s fingers move very quickly and lightly over the keys.

Suggested Activity:

Look at a globe or atlas to find the part of the world where Hummel was born.