Bernhard Romberg

portrait of Bernhard Romberg (1815)

Bernhard Heinrich Romberg (November 13, 1767 – August 13, 1841), was a German cellist and composer.

Life

Romberg was born in Dinklage. His father, Anton Romberg, played the bassoon and cello and gave Bernhard his first cello lessons. He first performed in public at the age of seven. In addition to touring Europe with his cousin Andreas Romberg, Bernhard Romberg also joined the Münster Court Orchestra.

Together with his cousin, he later joined the court orchestra of the Prince Elector Archbishop of Cologne in Bonn (conducted by the Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesi) in 1790, where they met the young Beethoven. Beethoven admired and respected Bernhard Romberg as a musician. However, Romberg had difficulty understanding some of Beethoven's musical ideas, and rejected Beethoven's offer of a cello concerto for him, saying that he primarily performed his own compositions[1]

Romberg made several innovations in cello design and performance. He lengthened the cello's fingerboard and flattened the side under the C string, thus giving it more freedom to vibrate.[2] He also invented what is known as the Romberg bevel, a flat section beneath the E string of the double bass that allowed the larger string to vibrate more freely. He suggested that half-size and 3/4 size cellos should be designed to make it easier for young children to play the instrument. Romberg is responsible for simplifying cello notation to only three clefs, the bass clef, the tenor clef and the treble clef. Until his time, it was common to use many clefs for multiple uses - the 18th century cellist-composer Luigi Boccherini used as many as six clefs in his compositions. Romberg is thought to be among the first cellists to perform from memory, which was a skill praised highly in his day.[2] He died at Hamburg.

It has been suggested that Romberg's cello sonata in E minor was a strong influence on the first cello sonata in E minor by Johannes Brahms.[3]

Works

Works with Opus number

Works by Bernhard and Andreas Romberg

Works without Opus number

Media
Flute Quintet in G Major
1. Allegro
2. Minuet
3. Adagio
4. Rondo
Performed by James Galway and the Young Danish String Quartet
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References

  1. ↑ Raychev, Evgeni Dimitrov (2003). The virtuoso cellist-composers from Luigi Boccherini to David Popper: A review of their lives and works (PDF) Archived February 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine., . P. 21. D.M. dissertation, The Florida State University, United States -- Florida. Retrieved December 8, 2009, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text.(Publication No. AAT 3109523).
  2. 1 2 Raychev (2003), P23.
  3. ↑ hwa-chow oliver hsu. "Cello Sonata 1 Op. 38". Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Information and Description about and of Ars Produktion Recording of Symphonies opp. 23, 28 and 53". Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  5. ↑ "Hofmeisters Monatsberichte". 1830. pp. 19, 66. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  6. ↑ Wion, John. "Two Bernhards"., retrieved 22 August 2007.

External links

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