Hänsel, Peter
(1770 - 1831)
Quartett Op.19
Klarinette, Violine,
Viola und Violoncello
Partitur und Stimmen
© 2001
ee 201700
ISMN M-700196-09-7
Peter Hänsel was born 1770 in Leippe, Silesia. After displaying talent quite early, he was sent to be trained in music by an uncle in Warsaw. In 1787 he was enga ged by conductor Giuseppe Sarti to play violin in Prince Potemkin’s orchestra in St. Petersburg. From 1791 until 1817 (apart from a Paris sojourn in 1802-03), Hänsel was violinist and Kapellmeister in the service of Princess Lubomirska in Vienna. After 1792 he studied composition with Joseph Haydn, who had just returned from England. Hänsel died in Vienna in 1831.
Hänsel’s compositions, most of which were published and widely played during his lifetime, consisted primarily of chamber music for strings, including over 50 string quartets.
The agreeable Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Cello, op. 19 was published in 1808 by Artaria of Vienna [PN 1988]. It was dedicated to the excellent clarinetist Thomas Nawratill, a colleague of Hänsel’s in Princess Lubomirska’s orchestra. Nawratill’s influence is reflected in Hänsel’s expertise with the particular idiosyn cracies of the instrument and the high level of virtuosity he demanded in the part.
