The reputation of Hummel has been clouded by time. Born in Pressburg (the modern Bratislava) in 1778, he was a pupil of Mozart and enjoyed a successful career as a pianist and composer. He was employed, not entirely to his employer’s satisfaction, by the Esterházy family at Eisenstadt as Konzertmeister, while Haydn, now in retirement in Vienna, continued as nominal Kapellmeister. Hummel later served as Kapellmeister at Stuttgart and from 1818 at Weimar.

Choral and Vocal

Hummel, in his long career, wrote a number of dramatic works of various kinds. In addition to his many songs, he set liturgical texts and suitably celebratory cantatas for some of his patrons. His 1806 Missa solemnis was written for the marriage of his patron ...