Johann Sobeck
Quintet No. 4, Op. 23, for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon (Wind Quintet)
Johann Sobeck was born on 30 April 1831 in Skřipová near Karlsbad. From the age of twelve, he studied clarinet with Franz Tadeusz Blatt and composition with Johann Friedrich Kittl at the Prague Conservatory. After completing his studies in 1849, he spent two years as solo clarinettist in the Baden-Baden theatre orchestra. From 1851 to 1901, he served as principal clarinettist of the Royal Opera in Hanover. He received several honors for his achievements, including the Royal Prussian Order of the Crown, 4th Class, and the Ducal Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Medal of Merit for Art and Science in silver. Johann Sobeck died in 1914.
Sobeck's oeuvre consists mainly of chamber works for the clarinet. As an ardent admirer of Beethoven – among other things, he was a member of the Beethoven Circle in Boulogne-sur-Mer – he completed Beethoven's unfinished violin concerto and arranged it for the clarinet.
Among his most significant works are probably the four quintets for wind quintet.