AHJ, Vol. 2 No. 1, Spring 1969

DUSSEK AND
THE HARP
by Ann Griffiths
The following article appeared for the first time in
the May 1968 issue of the "Musical Times". It was
reprinted (with some modifications aimed at readers
who play the harp) in the United Kingdom Harpists'
Association Newsletter for September, 1968.
We wish to thank Miss Griffiths, the Musical Times
and Mr. John Marson, Editor of the Newsletter for
giving their permission for reprinting it here.
Harpists, when asked to supply programme
material, are inclined to say, "And
of course, I will play the Dussek sonata" to
which my reply invariably is, "Which Dussek
sonata?" The normal reaction is a look
of blank amazement and an assurance that
they mean the C minor sonata (publ. Schott,
recorded by Zabaleta, D. G. EPL 30310)
and that of course they don't mean the sonatinas
(publ. Artia, Prague) but the sonata.
Musicologically naive we harpists may be,
but it i s nonetheless ridiculous, especially
when we play so much of what Percy
Scholes charmingly calls harp-fodder' ,
that we should ignore the really worthwhile
legacy of Dussek's harp music.
Jan Ladisla v Dussek (Dusik) was born
in Caslav on February 12th 1760 of a musical
family. His father, Jan Josef Dusik, was
a teacher and organist, and his mother Veronika
(nee Stobetova) was a harpist. J. L.
Dussek studied in Prague, then left for Belgium
where he is said to have been organist
in Malines Cathedral in 1779. He was in
Holland from 1780-83 and Germany 1784-
86. From 1786-89 Dussek was mainly in
Paris, and it was there that he wrote the
Opus 2 harp sonatas of which the sonata in
C minor is one. The most famous harpist of
the day was Madame Krumoholtz ( Krumpholc),
wife of another well-known harpistinventor-composer,
and Dussek's harp and
piano duo Opus 11 was dedicated to her.
In 1789, along with so many others escap-
SPRING/ 1969
ing the French Revolution, Dussek came to
London, where in 1789 he wrote his E flat
concerto ( Opus 15) for harp and piano. In
1790 he appeared for the first time in Salomon's
concerts as a pianist, and in the same
year Miss Sophia Corri began to study harp
and piano with him. Miss Corri, later to become
Madame Dussek had already appeared
in many concerts as a singer, and a great
future was predicted for her. Her father
was Domenico Corri, a music publisher
with whom, in 1794, Dussek went into part~
nership. Dussek and Sophia were married
at St. Anne's, Westminster, on August 31st,
1792, when she was 17 years old. The first
harp work to be published after his marriage
was the Duo in F major ( Opus 26)
which is very much a re-hash of Opus 11. Its
great popularity is evident from the many
performances it received in following years.
Sophia's first public appearance as a
harpist was in 1795, playing her husband's
Concerto in C major (Opus 30). This is a
most attractive work in two movements (a
classical Allegro followed by a Rondo)
showing a much firmer grasi:> of writing for
the harp than the earlier pieces. Technically
demanding, it is scored for harp with
strings, two oboes and two horns. Two solo
sonatas (Opus 34 No. 1 in E flat and No. 2
in B flat) were published in 1797. Ad-lib.
violin and 'cello parts were added to both
these, a usual sales gimmick of the time. In
1799 the publishing business of Corri, Dussek
& Co. collapsed, largely because of Dussek'
business ineptitude. Corri was jailed
for ~lebt ~nd _Dussek escaped to Hamburg,
leavmg bis wife, whom he was never to see
again, in London. Published about the same
time he left were the Sonata (Opus 37) in
E flat and the harp/ piano duo (Opus 38)
also in E flat. The latter work exists in
many f ?rms-harp and piano; two pianos ;
harp, piano and two horns; harp, piano and
three horns. Judging from the number of
later editions, it must have been a very popular
work-certainly it is a much better
work than the Duo in F (Opus 11 / Opus 26).
Probably also written in his London period,
but difficult to date, are two concertos,
one in F major ( also published as a
piano work) and another in B flat which
exists now only in an arrangement for solo
harp by Sophia, published after Dussek's
death when she had re-married and was
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