Joseph Martin Kraus (1756−1792)

Zwei neue kuriose Minuetten (Zwey neue kuriose Menuetten) C-dur/c-moll [in C major/C minor

VB 190 (earlier VB 186)

Print

I. Minuet
II. Minuet

  • Year of composition: Probably Stockholm 1779-1780 (1779 according to van Boer's earlier dating; see more below)
  • Work category: Piano
  • Dedication: D:r Forkel (see more below)
  • Duration: Approx. 1-5 min
  • Detailed duration: 1'51 (according to BIS Record's CD edition)
    2'19 (according to Stradivarius Record's CD edition)

Location for score and part material

Transcription in private ownership at the Näs estate, Rö, Uppland (according to van Boer)
According to a note in the exemplar at Musik- och teaterbiblioteket of van Boer's later book the transcription now exists in the Silverstolpe collection, Näs Silfverstolpe archive at Riksarkivet [The Swedish National Archive]

  • Possible call no. and autograph comment: Autograph lost (according to van Boer it earlier existed with Johann Nikolaus Forkel in Göttingen, Germany)

Literature

van Boer Jr, Bertil H: Die Werke von Joseph Martin Kraus. Systematisch-thematisches Werkverzeichnis, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music series no. 56, Stockholm (1988); an updated edition in English with a partly revised VB-numbering was published in 1998 by Pendragon Press under the title Joseph Martin Kraus. A Systematic-Thematic Catalogue of His Musical Works and Source Study

Description of work

I. Minuet C major 3/4
II. Minuet C minor 3/4


Work comment

According to van Boer, the copyist, Fredrik Samuel Silverstolpe, stated in his biography of Kraus that there had always existed some kind of animosity between D:r Forkel and Kraus, shown in more ways than one, and that there are two Minuets for Fortepiano, composed by Kraus and dedicated to Mr. Forkel, in an old-fashioned style and with all kinds of harmonic flaws, which disclose something beyond the jest.