Carl Friedrich Abel

Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723[n 1] – 20 June 1787)[2][3] was a German composer of the Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument.

Portrait of Carl Friedrich Abel by Thomas Gainsborough, 1777

Life

Abel was born in Köthen,[3][4] a small German city, where his father, Christian Ferdinand Abel, had worked for years as the principal viola da gamba and cello player in the court orchestra. In 1723 Abel senior became director of the orchestra, when the previous director, Johann Sebastian Bach, moved to Leipzig. The young Abel later boarded at St. Thomas School, Leipzig, where he was taught by Bach.

On Bach's recommendation in 1743 he was able to join Johann Adolph Hasse's court orchestra at Dresden, where he remained for fifteen years.[3][5] In 1759 (or 1758 according to Chambers),[1] he went to England and became chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte, in 1764.[3][5] He gave a concert of his own compositions in London, performing on various instruments, one of which was a five-string cello known as a pentachord, which had been recently invented by John Joseph Merlin.[6]

In 1762, Johann Christian Bach, the eleventh son of J.S. Bach, joined him in London, and the friendship between him and Abel led, in 1764 or 1765, to the establishment of the famous Bach-Abel concerts, England's first subscription concerts. In those concerts, many celebrated guest artists appeared, and many works of Haydn received their first English performance.

For ten years the concerts were organized by Mrs. Theresa Cornelys, a retired Venetian opera singer who owned a concert hall at Carlisle House in Soho Square, then the height of fashionable events. In 1775 the concerts became independent of her, to be continued by Abel and Bach until Bach's death in 1782. Abel still remained in great demand as a player on various instruments new and old. He traveled to Germany and France between 1782 and 1785, and upon his return to London, became a leading member of the Grand Professional Concerts at the Hanover Square Rooms in Soho. Throughout his life he had enjoyed excessive living, and his drinking probably hastened his death, which occurred in London on 20 June 1787.[7] He was buried in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church.

One of Abel's works became famous due to a misattribution: in the 19th century, a manuscript symphony in the hand of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was catalogued as his Symphony no. 3 in E flat, K. 18, and was published as such in the first complete edition of Mozart's works by Breitkopf & Härtel. Later, it was discovered that this symphony was actually the work of Abel, copied by the boy Mozart—evidently for study purposes—while he was visiting London in 1764. That symphony was originally published as the concluding work in Abel's Six Symphonies, Op. 7.

In 2015 new manuscripts of Abel's viola da gamba music were found in the library of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, in a collection from the Maltzahn family palace in the town of Milicz in Poland,[8] originally brought back from London by Count Joachim Carl of Maltzan.

Selected works by opus number

(adapted from the listing in the article on Abel at fr.wikipedia.org)

• Op. 1: 6 Overtures or Sinfonias (1761)
• Op. 2: 6 Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin and Cello (ad libitum) (1760)
• Op. 3: 6 Trio Sonatas for 2 Violins and Basso Continuo (1762)
• Op. 4: 6 Overtures or Sinfonias (1762)
• Op. 5: 6 Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin and Cello (ad libitum) (1762)
• Op. 6: 6 Sonatas for Keyboard and Flute (1763)
• Op. 7: 6 Symphonies (1767)
• Op. 8: 6 String Quartets (1768)
• Op. 9: 6 Trio Sonatas for Violin, Cello and Basso Continuo (1771)
• Op. 10: 6 Symphonies (1771)
• Op. 11: 6 Concerti for Keyboard and Strings (1771)
• Op. 12: 6 Flute Quartets (1774)
• Op. 13: 6 Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin (1777)
• Op. 14: 6 Symphonies (1778)
• Op. 15: 6 String Quartets (1780)
• Op. 16: 4 Trio Sonatas for 2 Flutes and Basso Continuo (1781)
• Op. 16: 6 Trio Sonatas for Violin, Viola and Cello (1782)
• Op. 17: 6 Symphonies (1785)
• Op. 18: 6 Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin (1784)

Works list

Collapsed list

• Symphony Op. 1 No.1 in B flat major, WK 1
• Symphony Op. 1 No.2 in C major, WK 2
• Symphony Op. 1 No.3 in D major, WK 3
• Symphony Op. 1 No.4 in E flat major, WK 4
• Symphony Op. 1 No.5 in F major, WK 5
• Symphony Op. 1 No.6 in G major, WK 6
• Symphony Op. 4 No.1 in D major, WK 7
• Symphony Op. 4 No.2 in B flat major, WK 8
• Symphony Op. 4 No.3 in E flat major, WK 9
• Symphony Op. 4 No.4 in C major, WK 10
• Symphony Op. 4 No.5 in G major, WK 11
• Symphony Op. 4 No.6 in D major, WK 12
• Symphony Op. 7 No.1 in G major, WK 13
• Symphony Op. 7 No.2 in B flat major, WK 14
• Symphony Op. 7 No.3 in D major, WK 15
• Symphony Op. 7 No.4 in F major, WK 16
• Symphony Op. 7 No.5 in C major, WK 17
• Symphony Op. 7 No.6 in E flat major, WK 18
• Symphony Op. 10 No.1 in E major, WK 19
• Symphony Op. 10 No.2 in B flat major, WK 20
• Symphony Op. 10 No.3 in E flat major, WK 21
• Symphony Op. 10 No.4 in C major, WK 22
• Symphony Op. 10 No.5 in D major, WK 23
• Symphony Op. 10 No.6 in A major, WK 24
• Symphony Op. 14 No.1 in C major, WK 25
• Symphony Op. 14 No.2 in E flat major, WK 26
• Symphony Op. 14 No.3 in D major, WK 27
• Symphony Op. 14 No.4 in B flat major, WK 28
• Symphony Op. 14 No.5 in G major, WK 29
• Symphony Op. 14 No.6 in E flat major, WK 30
• Symphony Op. 17 No.1 in E flat major, WK 31
• Symphony Op. 17 No.2 in B flat major, WK 32
• Symphony Op. 17 No.3 in D major, WK 33
• Symphony Op. 17 No.4 in C major, WK 34
• Symphony Op. 17 No.5 in B flat major, WK 35
• Symphony Op. 17 No.6 in G major, WK 36
• Symphony in C major, WK 37
• Symphony in B flat major, WK 38
• Symphony in E flat major, WK 39
• Symphony in B flat major, WK 40
• Symphony in D major, WK 41
• Sinfonia concertante for oboe quartet in B flat major, WK 42
• Sinfonia concertante for oboe quartet in D major, WK 43
• Periodical Overture in D major, WK 44
• Overture to 'Love in a village' in D major, WK 45a
• Overture to 'The summer's tale' in B flat major, WK 45b
• Flute Concerto No.1 in C major, WK 46
• Flute Concerto No.2 in E minor, WK 47
• Flute Concerto No.3 in D major, WK 48
• Flute Concerto No.4 in C major, WK 49
• Flute Concerto No.5 in G major, WK 50
• Flute Concerto No.6 in C major, WK 51
• Cello Concerto in B flat major, WK 52
• Keyboard Concerto Op. 11 No.1 in F major, WK 53
• Keyboard Concerto Op. 11 No.2 in B flat major, WK 54
• Keyboard Concerto Op. 11 No.3 in E flat major, WK 55
• Keyboard Concerto Op. 11 No.4 in D major, WK 56
• Keyboard Concerto Op. 11 No.5 in G major, WK 57
• Keyboard Concerto Op. 11 No.6 in C major, WK 58
• Flute Concerto No.7 in D major, WK 59
• Cello Concerto in C major, WK 60
• String Quartet Op. 8 No.1 in F major, WK 61
• String Quartet Op. 8 No.2 in B flat major, WK 62
• String Quartet Op. 8 No.3 in E flat major, WK 63
• String Quartet Op. 8 No.4 in D major, WK 64
• String Quartet Op. 8 No.5 in A major, WK 65
• String Quartet Op. 8 No.6 in F major, WK 66
• Flute Quartet Op. 12 No.1 in C major, WK 67
• Flute Quartet Op. 12 No.2 in A major, WK 68
• Flute Quartet Op. 12 No.3 in F major, WK 69
• Flute Quartet Op. 12 No.4 in D major, WK 70
• Flute Quartet Op. 12 No.5 in B flat major, WK 71
• Flute Quartet Op. 12 No.6 in G major, WK 72
• String Quartet Op. 15 No.1 in E major, WK 73
• String Quartet Op. 15 No.2 in C major, WK 74
• String Quartet Op. 15 No.3 in E flat major, WK 75
• String Quartet Op. 15 No.4 in G major, WK 76
• String Quartet Op. 15 No.5 in F major, WK 77
• String Quartet Op. 15 No.6 in A major, WK 78
• Raccolta for keyboard in C major, WK 79a
• Raccolta for keyboard in B flat major, WK 79b
• Trio Sonata Op. 3 No.1 in G major, WK 80
• Trio Sonata Op. 3 No.2 in C major, WK 81
• Trio Sonata Op. 3 No.3 in B flat major, WK 82
• Trio Sonata Op. 3 No.4 in D major, WK 83
• Trio Sonata Op. 3 No.5 in A major, WK 84
• Trio Sonata Op. 3 No.6 in E flat major, WK 85
• Trio Sonata Op. 9 No.1 in A major, WK 86
• Trio Sonata Op. 9 No.2 in C major, WK 87
• Trio Sonata Op. 9 No.3 in G major, WK 88
• Trio Sonata Op. 9 No.4 in B flat major, WK 89
• Trio Sonata Op. 9 No.5 in D major, WK 90
• Trio Sonata Op. 9 No.6 in F major, WK 91
• Trio Sonata Op. 16a No.1 in G major, WK 92
• Trio Sonata Op. 16a No.2 in D major, WK 93
• Trio Sonata Op. 16a No.3 in C major, WK 94
• Trio Sonata Op. 16a No.4 in A major, WK 95
• Trio Sonata Op. 16a No.5 in D major, WK 96
• Trio Sonata Op. 16a No.6 in G major, WK 97
• Trio Sonata Op. 16b No.1 in G major, WK 98
• Trio Sonata Op. 16b No.2 in D major, WK 99
• Trio Sonata Op. 16b No.3 in C major, WK 100
• Trio Sonata Op. 16b No.4 in G major, WK 101
• Trio Sonata for 2 violins & cello in A major, WK 102
• Trio Sonata for 2 violins & cello in A major, WK 103
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in G major, WK 104
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in D major, WK 105
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in G major, WK 106
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in F major, WK 107
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in C minor, WK 108
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in G major, WK 109
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in G major, WK 110
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in D major, WK 110a
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in G major, WK 110b
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in C major, WK 110c
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in B flat major, WK 110d
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in C major, WK 110e
• Trio Sonata for 2 flutes & cello in C major, WK 110f
• Keyboard Trio Op. 2 No.1 in C major, WK 111
• Keyboard Trio Op. 2 No.2 in F major, WK 112
• Keyboard Trio Op. 2 No.3 in D major, WK 113
• Keyboard Trio Op. 2 No.4 in B flat major, WK 114
• Keyboard Trio Op. 2 No.5 in G major, WK 115
• Keyboard Trio Op. 2 No.6 in E flat major, WK 116
• Keyboard Trio Op. 5 No.1 in B flat major, WK 117
• Keyboard Trio Op. 5 No.2 in G major, WK 118
• Keyboard Trio Op. 5 No.3 in E major, WK 119
• Keyboard Trio Op. 5 No.4 in C major, WK 120
• Keyboard Trio Op. 5 No.5 in A major, WK 121
• Keyboard Trio Op. 5 No.6 in F major, WK 122
• Flute Sonata Op. 6 No.1 in C major, WK 123
• Flute Sonata Op. 6 No.2 in G major, WK 124
• Flute Sonata Op. 6 No.3 in G major, WK 125
• Flute Sonata Op. 6 No.4 in E major, WK 126
• Flute Sonata Op. 6 No.5 in F major, WK 127
• Flute Sonata Op. 6 No.6 in G major, WK 128
• Violin Sonata Op. 13 No.1 in G major, WK 129
• Violin Sonata Op. 13 No.2 in F major, WK 130
• Violin Sonata Op. 13 No.3 in A major, WK 131
• Violin Sonata Op. 13 No.4 in B flat major, WK 132
• Violin Sonata Op. 13 No.5 in C major, WK 133
• Violin Sonata Op. 13 No.6 in E flat major, WK 134
• Violin Sonata Op. 18 No.1 in G major, WK 135
• Violin Sonata Op. 18 No.2 in A major, WK 136
• Violin Sonata Op. 18 No.3 in C major, WK 137
• Violin Sonata Op. 18 No.4 in E flat major, WK 138
• Violin Sonata Op. 18 No.5 in B flat major, WK 139
• Violin Sonata Op. 18 No.6 in F major, WK 140
• Violin Sonata in C major, WK 140a
• Keyboard Sonata in B flat major, WK 140b
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 1 in C major, WK 141
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 2 in A major, WK 142
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 3 in D major, WK 143
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 4 in G major, WK 144
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 5 in A major, WK 145
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 6 in E minor, WK 146
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 7 in G major, WK 147
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 8 in A major, WK 148
• Sonata for viola da gamba No. 9 in G major, WK 149
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.10 in E minor, WK 150
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.11 in C major, WK 151
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.12 in G major, WK 152
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.13 in G major, WK 153
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.14 in D major, WK 154
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.15 in G major, WK 155
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.16 in D major, WK 156
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.17 in E minor, WK 157
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.18 in D major, WK 158
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.19 in G major, WK 159
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.20 in D major, WK 160
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.21 in D major, WK 161
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.22 in C major, WK 162
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.23 in A major, WK 163
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.24 in A major, WK 164
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.25 in D major, WK 165
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.26 in D major, WK 166
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.27 in G major, WK 167
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.28 in D major, WK 168
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.29 in D major, WK 169
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.30 in C major, WK 170
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.31 in G major, WK 171
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.32 in D major, WK 172
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.33 in A major, WK 173
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.34 in G major, WK 174
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.35 in A minor, WK 175
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.36 in F minor, WK 176
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.37 in A major, WK 177
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.38 in G major, WK 178
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.39 in A major, WK 179
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.40 in D major, WK 180
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.41 in D major, WK 181
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.42 in G major, WK 182
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.43 in A major, WK 183
• Sonata for viola da gamba No.44 in C major, WK 184
• Arpeggio for viola da gamba in D major, WK 185
• Allegro for viola da gamba in D major, WK 186
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 187
• Tempo fi minuetto for viola da gamba in D major, WK 188
• Adagio for viola da gamba in D major, WK 189
• Vivace for viola da gamba in D major, WK 190
• Andante for viola da gamba in D major, WK 191
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 192
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 193
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 194
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 195
• Fuga for viola da gamba in D major, WK 196
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 197
• Allegro for viola da gamba in D major, WK 198
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 199
• Tempo di minuetto for viola da gamba in D major, WK 200
• Tempo di minuetto for viola da gamba in D major, WK 201
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 202
• Piece for viola da gamba in D major, WK 203
• Con variatione for viola da gamba in D major, WK 204
• Piece for viola da gamba in D minor, WK 205
• Piece for viola da gamba in D minor, WK 206
• Allegro for viola da gamba in D minor, WK 207
• Piece for viola da gamba in D minor, WK 208
• Adagio for viola da gamba in D minor, WK 209
• Minuetto for viola da gamba in D major, WK 210
• Allegretto for viola da gamba in A major, WK 211
• Allegro for viola da gamba in A major, WK 212
• Minuet for keyboard in C major, WK 213
• Minuet for keyboard in D major, WK 214
• Minuet for keyboard in G major, WK 215
• Minuet for keyboard in G major, WK 216
• March in F major, WK 217
• March in F major, WK 218
• March in F major, WK 219
• March in F major, WK 220
• March in F major, WK 221
• March in B flat major, WK 222
• March in F major, WK 223
• Andante for string quartet in E flat major, WK 224
• Flute Quartet in F major, WK 225
• Flute Quartet in D major, WK 226
• Flute Quartet with viola da gamba in G major, WK 227
• Cello Duet in D major, WK 228
• Concertino for 2 clarinets in E flat major (lost), WK 229
• 5 adagios for string quartet, WK 230
• Dolly's eyes are so bright, WK 231
• 4 soli for flute (lost), WK 232
• Frena le belle lagrime, WK deest

Notes and references

Notes

1. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary gives his year of birth erroneously as 1725.[1]

References

1. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 3
2. Randel, Don Michael, editor (1996). "Carl Friedrich Abel". The Harvard biographical dictionary of music. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 0-674-37299-9.
3. Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abel, Carl Friedrich". Encyclopædia Britannica. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 24. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
4. "Abel, Karl Friedrich" in Chambers's Encyclopædia. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 1, p. 7.
5. Sadie, Stanley, ed. (2001). "Carl [Karl] Friedrich Abel". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. I A-Aristotle (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Grove's Dicitonaries Inc. pp. 15–18. ISBN 1-56159-239-0.
6. Freiberg, Sarah. Conversation with Magical Merlin, Internet Cello Society. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
7. "Carl Friedrich Abel | German composer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
8. "Catalogue: Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) Maltzan Collection" (PDF). guentersberg.de. December 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 7 January 2018.

Sources

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abel, Karl Friedrich" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• S. M. Helm: Carl Friedrich Abel, Symphonist. London 1953

External links

• Free scores by Carl Friedrich Abel at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• newly found manuscripts in 2017
• Portraits of Carl Friedrich Abel at the National Portrait Gallery, London