Composer of the Day!

Today's Composer of the Day! is Johann Nepomuk Hummel! (1778-1837)

Hummel studied with Mozart, Clementi, and Albrechtsberger. He was a noted pianist, pedagogue, and composer in his time. He is unjustly neglected today.

He was Austrian, Slovakian, or Hungarian, depending on the date of the map you check. (We mostly call him Austrian.)

While he studied with Mozart, he actually lived with Wolfgang himself for several years! That must have been both influential and a great time. Or so one supposes.

He wrote an influential three-volume tome called A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course on the Art of Pianoforte Playing. Unsurprisingly, it is about playing the piano.

His middle name was Nepomuk, which is kind of awesome. Here is some Hummel for you:

Link to Trumpet Concerto (sorry, embedding was disabled).

He was Kappelmeister in three cities. He was extremely prolific, writing keyboard, chamber, opera, and sacred music. Student of Mozart and contemporary of Beethoven, he is sort of lost in the annals of music history.

You should listen to his music.