Hertel various concertos, as described from his autobiography "a few easy, a few difficult". These concertos are very virtuosic and undoubtfully they were written for his musician-friends. Hertel played a major role during the transitional era that is frequently referred to as the “late Baroque” or “pre-Classical” period, a period marked by cultural changes and the coexistence of different trends.
Concerto No.5 for Oboe, in g minor 00:00:00 I Allegro - No.5, Oboe 00:06:55 II Arioso con affetto - No.5, Oboe 00:11:08 III Presto - No.5, Oboe Concerto for Violin, in d minor 00:16:01 I Allegro e spiccato - Violin 00:22:13 II Andante e piano - Violin 00:26:54 III Presto - Violin Concerto for Oboe, in g minor 00:32:57 I Allegro - Oboe 00:41:30 II Largo - Oboe 00:47:07 III Allegro - Oboe Concerto for Bassoon, in a minor 00:53:42 I Allegro con spirito - Bassoon 00:59:53 II Grave - Bassoon 01:07:16 III Allegro di molto - Bassoon Concerto for Cello, in a minor 01:11:42 I Allegro con spirito - Cello 01:19:08 II Adagio poco andante - Cello 01:24:39 III Allegro - Cello
Johan Wilhelm Hertel was born on 9 October 1727 in Eisenach. He completed his studies in Zerbst, where he had received violin lessons from Carl Höckh, one of the main figures in the new German violin school; already in 1744, at the age of seventeen, Johann Wilhelm was hired as violinist and harpsichordist for the court chapel of Mecklenburg Strelitz.
Thanks to the frequent journeys with his father the famous viola da gamba and violin virtuoso and composer Johann Christian Hertel, Hertel became acquainted with the lively cultural life and exciting atmosphere at the court of Berlin. There he began to appreciate the operas of the Graun brothers, the instrumental music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and the numerous vocal talents from Italy with their unforgettable performances of works by Jommelli, Pergolesi, and Porpora, composers who were very much in fashion at the court of Frederick the Great.
The years of residence in Neustrelitz (1748–52) were certainly the most important for the development of his personality and his compositional style: he was so greatly influenced by the sensitive and gallant style of the Italian composers, that he deeply internalized their characteristics and specific features. First four concertos in this video were composed during this period and at the time of composition, Hertel was about twenty one years old. The last concerto in this video (for cello) was composed by Hertel in 1759 during economic difficulties and the Seven Years’ War, while being appointed as Court Chapel Composer in Schwerin.
After changing positions as Organist and than as a Court Chapel Composer in the service of Princess Ulrike Sophie, in 1770 she promoted him to privy councillor, which gave him the freedom to pursue his activities as composer, music theorist, and music critic until the end of his life. Hertel was not only a prolific composer, as evidenced by the large number of vocal and instrumental works, but also a many-sided author: as a music theorist he penned treatises (including Theory and Practice of the Thoroughbass and Theorie de la Musique), as a writer his own autobiography and the biography of his father. Finally, he was also a music critic and wrote many concert reviews during the time he spent in Hamburg.
The manuscripts of his Concertos are preserved in the library of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. They are in very good condition, it does, however, contain many deletions and corrections that bear witness to Hertel’s impulsive personality. Mostly, at the end of the first and third movements, Hertel employed da capo signs to indicate the final orchestral tutti, a common practice at that time. Hertel’s Concertos displays the typical sequence of fast–slow–fast movements borrowed from the Baroque solo concerto in Italian style. The a ritornello structure employed, which is characterized by the alternation between the orchestra and the soloist, spread to German-speaking regions via Antonio Vivaldi’s works and enjoyed great popularity, in the cultural atmosphere of Berlin and Dresden.
His musical language displays traits of the gallant style, which was influenced by J. J. Quantz’s vast oeuvre for flute, and has the expressive power of C.P.E. Bach’s sensitive instrumental pieces. Johann Wilhelm Hertel died in 1789 at the age of nearly sixty-two, as the "Hamburgischer Unparteischer Correspondent" newspaper reported, slightly inaccurately, shortly after his death: "Schwerin, 18th June. On the 14th of this month, the privy councillor, former chamber composer Johann Wilhelm Hertel died of a stroke in the 63rd year of his life. He was an admirable composer who had educated himself after the manner of C. P. E. Bach, Hasse, and Graun, and a good clavier and violin player." Reference: Lorenzo Gabriele Frankfurt, June 2016. Translation by Howard Weiner
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