Friedrich Eugen Thurner (1785-1827)

[Wheesht]

Swiss Radio SRF 2 Kultur 20 May, 22.35 pm local time: Concert, Zurich, December 2013 'Old and new chamber music':

Friedrich Eugen Thurner: Quatuor brillant in C-Dur op. 33 für Oboe, Violine, Viola und Cello

Heinz Holliger, Oboe
Hanna Weinmeister, Violine
Jürg Dähler, Viola
Daniel Haefliger, Violoncello

So far, I have just found a lengthy German obituary in the Allgemeine Musikzeitung, 9 May 1827 including a list of some works, among them oboe concerti and three symphonies.

[eschiss1]

Ah, we have Eugene/Friedrich Eugen's horn sonata Op.29 on IMSLP. There's also composers Théodore Thurner (two of them? Sr. and Jr.? one is called aîné, one jeune...) - I wonder if they're related to Friedrich Eugen. We have works by them-possibly mixed up, unfortunately, but fixable!...- also @ IMSLP- including a 3rd piano concerto...)

Anyhow- thanks, very interesting and intriguing! Doubt I'll be able to hear the program, but hopefully it's not the beginning and the end of interest in Friedrich (... or either Théodore...) (Have added/quoted your summary of the obituary to IMSLP, with link and attribution ("according to a...") - if better attribution is desired, contact me, of course; it still is your summary for all of that, and credit-where.)

[jerfilm]

Hopefully someone wil record it.....

J

[Wheesht]

I'll give it a try in any case - @Eric: I'll read through that obituary and summarise it in English as soon as I get round to it, no better attribution is desired, I am happy to help.

[eschiss1]

Thanks very much!

[Wheesht]

Here is a first list of major works extracted from that obituary:

Oboe concerto in F major
Symphony in E-flat major
Symphony in D major
Ballet: The Judgement of Paris
Oboe concerts (2) in C major
Oboe concert in D minor
Symphony in D major (unfinished)
Ballet: Socrates and Alcibiades (unperformed, but most musical numbers were used in another ballet: Zephyre und Flore).

He was born in Montbéliard (then called Mömpelgard in German), the first child of Anton Thurner, a famous flute player (originally from Vienna) who often gave double concerts with his brother Franz. Apparently Friedrich Eugen Thurner started to lose his mind when he was in Vienna and although he seems to have recovered intermittently, he finally ended up in a mental institution in Amsterdam and died there. He had continued composing, though, when he was better, and dedicated some of his last works (not listed in the German obituary, written by a cousin of his) to Amsterdam friends.

[eschiss1]

Thanks- and this thread is linked from IMSLP now.

[eschiss1]

I see a recording of "Kammermusik für Oboe" listed on Worldcat that contains something by Thurner (and a fair number of other composers.)

[jerfilm]

Thanks, Wheesht, for the upload.  Interesting piece....

jERRY

[semloh]

Yes, thanks for posting this. The composer, and this enjoyable work, are entirely new to me.

Can someone just please tell me what the connection is to Beethoven, that is mentioned in the German language introduction?  Thanks! 

[Wheesht]

The obituary (more of a biographical article really) in the Allgemeine Musikzeitung mentions that Thurner spent three years in Munich, where his first compositions became publicly known (he was just 16). Later, he stayed in Vienna, his father had been born there, and met Beethoven. According to the author of the obituary it is easy to see that Beethoven was not without influence on Thurner's later works. The radio announcer just mentions that he was a contemporary of Beethoven.

[semloh]

Ah, thanks for that, Wheesht!