JAN LADISLAV DUSSEK  

Born and educated in Bohemia, latterly at the University of Prague, Dussek for some years led a peripatetic existence as a pianist that took him to Holland, to Russia, to Lithuania, to various cities in Germany, with possible lessons from C.P.E.Bach in Hamburg and, in 1786, to Paris. With the revolution he took refuge, in 1789, in London, where he married the singer, pianist and harpist Sophia Corri. Here he joined his father-in-law in music publishing and persauded the piano-maker Broadwood to extend the range of the keyboard. In 1799, with the failure of his business, Dussek moved to Hamburg, performed successfully in Bohemia and entered the service of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, whose death he mourned in an elegiac piano sonata. His final years were spent in the service of Talleyrand in Paris, where he died in 1812.

Orchestral Music

Dussek wrote a number of concertos for piano, piano and harp and two pianos. He makes some demands for virtuosity in music that was much admired in his own time.

Chamber Music

Chamber music by Dussek includes a number of sonatas for violin and piano and some for piano trio. The harp features quite extensively in original compositions and transcriptions, there are string quartets, piano quintets and a Serenade for nonet. A topical novelty is The Naval Battle and Total Defeat of the Dutch Fleet by Admiral Duncan, scored for piano, violin, cello and percussion.

Piano Music

As a pianist, Dussek wrote a number of works for piano. These include The Sufferings of the Queen of France (The Farewell), written in 1793, and Elégie harmonique sur la mort du Prince Lous Ferdinand de Prusse (Harmonic Elegy on the Death of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia), in addition to a series of less programmatic sonatas, many in an incipient romantic idiom that has some passing resemblance at times to the musical idiom of other composers.