Johann Nepomuk Hummel Quotes

Johann Nepomuk Hummel was born in Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia). He was an Austrian composer and outstanding virtuoso pianist during the period of transition from Classical to Romantic musical styles. His father took him on a European tour, arriving in London where he received instruction from Muzio Clementi and where he stayed for four years before returning to Vienna. From 1804 to 1811 he was chapelmaster to the Esterházy family. After further successes as a pianist, conductor, and teacher, he became chapelmaster at Weimar. Hummel’s most important compositions are his piano works, consisting of trios, sonatas, rondos, and six concerti, all elegant in style and virtuosic in their melodic writing and ornamentation. He also composed nine operas, three masses, a mandolin concerto, and chamber works, notably the Septet in D Minor.