Johann Gottfried Arnold (1773-1806) - Cinquième Concerto pour Violoncelle - II. Larghetto

Realisation: Steffen Fahl – klassik-resampled.de
Complete recordings of all five Celloconcertos by J.G.Arnold here:
http://resampled.de/index.php/en/composers/a/arnold-johann-gottfried

Composer: Johann Gottfried Arnold (1773-1806)
Work: Cinquième Concerto pour Violoncelle - II. Larghetto (World Premiere Recording)
Performers: Digital performance by Steffen Fahl

Painting: Johan Christian Dahl (1788-1857) - Larvik by Moonlight
Image in high resolution: https://flic.kr/p/2jTcMtB

Special thanks to Steffen Fahl for allowing me to share his amazing music here!

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Johann Gottfried Arnold
(Niedernhall, 1 February 1773 - Frankfurt, 26 July 1806)

German cellist. The son of a schoolmaster, who gave him preliminary musical training, he made local appearances with the cello when he was eight; in 1785 he was apprenticed to the town musician at Künzelsau, where he spent five years, followed by a period with his uncle, who held a similar position at Wertheim. But ensuing attempts to start a solo career, making short tours in southern Germany and Switzerland, proved abortive, hampered by the absence of proper training. Accordingly, he went first to Regensburg for some months' study with Max Willmann, the first cello teaching he had received. He proceeded to Hamburg in 1796; here, he profited greatly from the tuition and fine example of Romberg, who helped him to develop great technical ability and recommended his engagement, a year later, as solo cellist of the Frankfurt Opera. Arnold is said to have been described by his contemporaries as a great virtuoso, with a ‘consistently enchanting’ tone. He died of a lung infection at the age of 33 and was greatly mourned by the people of Frankfurt. His compositions include five cello concertos (published 1802–8), which became favourite items of Dotzauer’s repertory; the third was republished by Karl Schröder in 1880. He also wrote a Symphonie concertante for two flutes and orchestra, and various works for piano, cello, guitar and chamber ensembles. Arnold’s son Carl (Neukirchen, nr Mergentheim, 6 May 1794 - Christiania, 11 Nov 1877) studied the piano first at Frankfurt with C.A. Hoffmann and Aloys Schmitt, and then, after his father’s death, at Offenbach with J.A. André and J.G. Vollweiler. After concert tours in Germany, Poland and Russia (where in 1820 he married the singer Henriette Kisting), he settled in Berlin in 1824. He spent 16 years composing but gave up after the failure of his opera Irene in 1832. In 1835 he became music director at Münster, and in 1847, director of the Philharmonic Society at Christiania, where in 1857 he also became organist of the Trefoldighetskirke. His own son, Karl (Berlin, 8 June 1824 - Christiania, 9 Aug 1867), studied the cello with Max Bohrer and became cellist of the court chapel at Stockholm. #ClassicalMusic