Joseph Küffner (1776–1856)
Divertissement op. 227 for Horn (or Violin) and Piano
Joseph Küffner, born into a family of musicians, was born in Würzburg on 31 March 1776. At the age of seven he began learning the violin. From 1791 he initially studied law, but as early as 1792 he made his first appearance as a violin soloist at a “winter concert” in Würzburg. From 1794 he was taught by the Würzburg concertmaster Joseph Lorenz Schmitt. From 1797 Küffner devoted himself fully to music: he became a substitute player in the court orchestra and was given a permanent position there in 1800.
When Würzburg passed to Bavaria in 1802, he was temporarily relieved of his court music duties. He took up the post of bandmaster in a Bavarian regiment and was tasked with reorganizing military music along contemporary lines. He met this challenge as a composer, producing wind-band arrangements of every kind, which enjoyed great popularity. From 1804 he was active in the court orchestra again and was at the same time appointed military music director. In 1814, when the court music establishment was dissolved, he was pensioned off and thereafter devoted himself solely to composition.
The publishers J. André and Schott ensured the distribution of his works. His wind-band music in particular found great favour in France and the Netherlands. On several journeys he was granted personal honours in Brussels and Paris. From 1827 he occasionally reviewed for the journal Cäcilia. Küffner died at Stift Haug in Würzburg on 9 September 1856.
The present Divertissement op. 227 for horn (or violin) and piano was first published by Schott in 1830. It was dedicated to Gustave Wappers (1803–1874), an important painter of the young Belgian kingdom. In 1830 the painter had his first great successes. In 1835 Küffner was painted in a half-length portrait by Wappers, commissioned by the Société Royale d’Harmonie of Antwerp. Already on his first journey to Belgium in 1829, Küffner had sat for this painter for the first time. Unfortunately, Küffner’s half-length portrait is considered lost today.
