Adalbert Gyrowetz, born precisely between Mozart and Beethoven, was among those who witnessed the upheaval of changing times in especially drastic fashion. When he died in 1850, Schumann was 40, Liszt 39-and Chopin, who had debuted in Warsaw in 1818 with a piano concerto by the Bohemian, had already been dead for six months. Gyrowetz's instrumental music had once been widely celebrated: published in large numbers, frequently performed, and eventually forgotten. The composer turned to the stage, wrote sacred music, and created a late period for himself in which he may have looked back with melancholy on earlier works, pieces sometimes thought to rival Haydn at his best. This sampling from the "good old days", compiled by tireless rediscoverer Howard Griffiths, shows how such impressions came about. The orchestra is no coincidence: Gyrowetz once enjoyed high esteem even on the Thames. Now he is back.
The history of large-scale works for clarinet, cello and piano began with the two trios composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1797 and 1803. Soon after Beethoven's trios were published, several of his contemporaries were also inspired to compose trios for these instruments. Adalbert Gyrowetz (1763-1850), a prolific Bohemian composer active in Vienna, wrote chamber music that aligned with the elegant, balanced style of the Classical period. His clarinet trios often follow the model popularized by Beethoven and others: clarinet, cello, and piano. They highlight the clarinet's lyrical qualities while maintaining a conversational equality among the three instruments. Gyrowetz's music tends to favor charm and clarity over dramatic intensity, providing insight into the salon culture of early nineteenth-century Vienna. Johann Heinrich Volckmar (1770-1840), though less widely remembered, contributed to the clarinet trio genre with works that blend Classical formality with touches of early Romantic color. His trios display a clear sense of melody, often assigning the clarinet bright, song-like lines while the piano provides both harmonic support and moments of virtuosity. Volckmar's writing exemplifies how regional composers outside the central canon engaged with the clarinet's expressive potential, even if their works remained on the periphery of mainstream concert life. Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838), a student and close associate of Beethoven, represents a later stage in the trio tradition. His clarinet trios show a more Romantic sensibility, with broader structures, heightened contrasts, and more demanding instrumental writing. Ries imbues his works with dramatic flair and lyrical warmth, reflecting both Beethoven's influence and his own individual voice. Together, the trios of Gyrowetz, Volckmar, and Ries trace the clarinet's evolution from Classical elegance to Romantic expressivity within the chamber music setting. Played on period instruments by the Trio Origo. Trio Origo was formed for a performance of Beethoven's Trio Op.11 in 2004 when it's members were students of the Sibelius Academy. The trio has since then focused on performing Classical and Romantic works on period instruments. Trio Origo's recording of two trios by Beethoven was released in 2020 on Brilliant Classics (BC, 96215).
Adalbert Gyrowetz is one of the numerous, highly talented Czech musicians of the 18th century who received an excellent education in Prague and then turned to the musical centers of Europe. His music is strongly influenced by the classical language of Haydn. Architectural structures, harmonic progressions of tension, instrumentation, disposition of a cycle, representation of affect, and the general idea of music as a balanced language of feeling and reason dominate the aesthetics of this style. The quartets for flute and string trio are all in three movements with the tempo sequence fast-slow-fast. Around 1800 this was rather the exception, since Haydn's mature string quartets had established four movements. The duration of the pieces is about the same as the total duration of a "normal" four-movement chamber work of the time.
In addition, it is interesting that the voices, especially those of the flute, violin, but also viola and cello, feature rapid and virtuosic solos. Gyrowetz thus writes a cycle of three lively quartets that want to be nothing more than virtuoso divertissements and amusements with esprit. The composer has succeeded in this!
