Koželuch: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4

Featuring

Kemp English
Leopold Kozeluch

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Performer Biography

Kemp English, the performer on this album, completed the world première recording of the complete cycle of Koželuch's solo keyboard sonatas in April 2013.

Composer Biography

Leopold Koželuch, born Jan Antonín, changed his name to avoid confusion with his older cousin, also a musician, and made his Czech family name Koželuh more manageable in German by changing it to Koželuch.

Composer Biography

Leopold Koželuch declined an offer from the Archbishop of Salzburg in 1781 to take Mozart's former post as court organist, citing the Archbishop's treatment of Mozart as a deterrent.

Compositional Technique

Koželuch's keyboard sonatas often foreshadow Beethoven's tragic-pathetic style and Schubert's lyrical melodies and harmonic shifts, with some minor key sonatas featuring slow introductions predating Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata by nineteen years.

Recording & Production

This recording features Kemp English playing original and replica fortepianos after Anton Walter, a prominent Viennese builder, and other historical instruments from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Leopold Koželuch was an early and strong advocate for the fortepiano, believing the harpsichord's monotony could not accommodate the clarity and expression he demanded in music.

Composition History

In 1784, Leopold Koželuch founded his own publishing firm, Musikalisches Magazin, which provided an ideal vehicle for the publication of his compositions.