Composers and Their Teachers II: Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

What is your favorite concerto for the Jew’s harp?

This question might seem strange, but Johann Albrechtsberger did write concertos for Jew’s harp*and orchestra, two of which are recorded by Fritz Mayr and the Chamber Orchestra of Munich. It is thought that he wrote many more, but only three survive in manuscript. 

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger lived from 1736 to 1809, a time essentially spanning the Classical era, as is currently defined. Albrechtsberger wrote also a treatise on composition with an emphasis on counterpoint, written at a time when that technique was probably seen as old hat. His teaching on counterpoint is enormously important in the modern day, and is held in regard as one of that last Baroque era studies on the technique. However, his performance and recording “footprint” in the modern day is sadly, very small (mosty relegated to a few important concertos for various instruments and some sacred music), which is why I mention him today. Beethoven studied with Albrechtsberger from shortly after his arrival in Vienna in 1792 until 1795, and most scholars point to Albrechtsberger as the biggest influence on Beethoven's compositional skills during his youth. 

The decision to write for the Jew’s harp is an interesting one, and interestingly, associates Albrechtsberger with peasant or folk music of his time. In light of this idea there is a larger point to be made, and I will try to put it as delicately as I can. 

One of the things I love about music is the idea of spanning genres. It sounds like a B.S. marketing term nowadays, but there are times when it is done superbly well. Plenty of rock/pop musicians have backgrounds in jazz or classical music, plenty of classical musicians take inspiration from folk music, and there are excellent collaborations from all sorts of genres across the spectrum happening all the time. So my question is: 

Why do We continue to claim precedence for the quality of classical music, as though it is better (emotionally, morally, aesthetically), when it seems as though it is simply another incarnation of Music?

Or put another way:

If Albrechtsberger decided that he wasn’t “above” writing for folk instruments, if Haydn did mind including folk-ish material in his symphonies, if Ibert didn’t think he was above writing music that sounds like it belongs in the circus (his Divertissment), and if Mozart didn’t think Singspiel was beneath him, why do we think EVERY piece in the classical canon deserves an atmosphere of religious devotion and emotional reservation? If these composers didn’t think they were debasing themselves, why do we?

Surely there are pieces and moments which are complex and deserve silent attention, just as there are pieces that are goofy and full of wit and humor, which probably deserve a more relaxed atmosphere. Maybe we don’t play those pieces enough, and maybe the gatekeepers simply do not like the frivolity of the humorous when applied to classical music. But it is out there if you know where to look. As for me, give me profound, give me frivolous, just give me a good show. And while you’re at it, put a piece for Jew’s harp in your program. 

*Jew's harp is of course, not the original name for this instrument, as it has very little or nothing to do with the Jewish people. It goes by many names in the different cultures in which it is used.

** Thankfully, there are some ensembles willing to tackle the lesser-known works of Albrechtsberger. One disc I'll recommend is the Authentic Quartet's 2007 recording of three of the composers' string quartets. There are still plenty of quartets from his catalog yet to be recorded, here's hoping we will hear more in the future.  

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