AHJ, Vol. 4 No. 3, Spring 1974

after an audition in Vienna, Haydn proposed that he
become harpist in the chapel of Prince Esterhazy.
Returning to Paris in 1777, Krumpholtz soon became
the teacher of people in polite society and (as we have
seen) made his debut at the Concert Spirituel on Christmas
Day 1778.
Krumpholtz married the sister of a lute maker of
Metz, Marguerite Gilbert, who soon left him a widower
with two children. Bad luck would have it that he should
be attracted to one of his pupils, twenty years his junior,
the pretty Anne Steckler, daughter of another lute
maker of Metz, Christian Steckler. The new Mme.
Krumpholtz, who had, in addition to her beauty, a remarkable
talent for the harp, was the darling of the
musical world for a dozen years ... So much so that in
1 790 she ran away to London with a mysterious seducer,
who, if one is to believe George Cucuel, could well
have been the son of Fran9ois-J oseph Gossec.
Poor Krumpholtz, devoured by jealousy, could not
endure the flight of his wife, and threw himself into the
Seine near the Pont-Neuf, February 5th, 1790.
To the numerous acknowledgments that harpists owe
to Jean-Baptiste Krumpholtz, let us add that it was he
who had the idea of asking Sebastion Erard to interest
himself in the mechanism of the harp. We know what
came of that: Erard transformed the then imperfect
structure of the instrument, and invented the double
action which is still in use today, and which makes possible
twenty-seven complete diatonic scales, whereas
the old system had only thirteen.
The new harp came out of Erard's workshop in 1811:
Krumpholtz was not there to profit by an invention of
which he had been the inspiration.
From this high point we must descend to speak of
Jean-Baptiste Cardon. It would be regrettable however
to forget him. Son of a violinist in the royal chapel of
Versailles, he was born at Rethel in 1760, and was, after
I 780, teacher of harp to the Countesse d' Artois. The
Revolution forced him (and many other musicians)
to flee from France, but at a time when most harpists
turned to England, Cardon chose Russia, where we
find him after I 790, concert master at the court of
Catherine II.
He was a member of a small instrumental group consisting
of clarinetist Joseph Beer, violinist Ferdinand
Dietz, violincellist Alessandro Delfino, and pianist
Ernest Vandjoura. This ensemble performed regularly
in the apartments of the Empress.
Although on the demand of Catherine he had signed
a manifesto condemning the French Revolution, Cardon's
contract was not renewed in I 793. Several years
later he returned to France where he remained until
1802. For reasons unknown he departed again for
Russia, where he died in I 803.
Jean-Baptiste Cardon has often been confused with
one of his three brothers: Louis-Stanislas, a talented
violinist. A modern edition of a sonata by Cardon maintains
this error, disseminated by Fetis. Published after
I 780, the work of J. B. Cardon (with some rare exceptions)
consists of sonatas for harp and violin. These so-
SPRING/1974
natas contribute nothing new to the technique of the
harp, but they are the product of a virtuoso who knew
his instrument very thoroughly. The most interesting
collections of sonatas are unquestionably the following:
I) 4 Sonatas for Harp with Accompaniment of
Violin (Op. VII), Dedicated to Her Majesty
Queen Marie-Antoinette.
2) 3 Sonatas for Harp with Accompaniment of
Violin (Op. IX), Dedicated to Her Majesty the
Empress of all the Russias.
3) 3 Sonatas for Harp with Accompaniment of
Violin (Op. XI), Dedicated to Her Serene Highness
Mme. The Grand Duchess Helene Pawlowna.
In I 784, Jean-Baptiste Cardon published an Art of
Playing the Harp, Demonstrated by His Principles,
which all his biographers have confused with a
"method", and which is, in reality, a set of excellent
exercises.
A harpist-composer who has also left some works
which are very interesting from both a musical and a
technical point of view was Francesco Petrini.
In spite of his Italian name, Petrini was of German
origin. Born in Berlin in I 744, he belonged to a dynasty
of harpists: his father was harpist in the chapel of Frederick
the Great, his sister Therese (born in Berlin in
I 736) was, in I 754, harpist of the Margrave Charles in
Berlin; his brother Henri was also a harpist who lived
in Par'is in the shadow of Francesco.
At the beginning of his career, in I 765, he had been
attached to the chapel of the Duke of Mecklenbourg­
Schwerin. In 1769 Petrini arrived in France, and as was
customary made his debut at the Concert Spirituel in
1770.
The first compositions of Petrini are in no way remarkable.
The first sonatas, published in I 769, 6 Sonatas
for the Harp with Violin ad lib., Dedicated to His
Serene Highness Monsignor le Prince Louis de Rohan,
Op. I, are awkwardly scored.
The Six Divertimentifor Harp Solo, Accompanied by
Flute and Bass (Op. IV) published in I 772, and the
Duo for 2 Harps, Dedicated to Mlle. de Guines (Op.
VII-1773) are better, but make no contribution to technical
advancement. One must wait for 1786 and the
First Concerto for Harp with Accompaniment of 2
Violins, Viola, Bass, 2 Oboes, 2 Horns (Op. XXV) to
have from Petrini a work which can rival the compositions
of Krumpholtz and Hochbriicker. This concerto
was performed Sept. I, 1786 at the Concert Spirituel by
Mlle. Descarsins. But it is above all the 4th Concerto
in B Flat Major, Op. XXIX which merits our sustained
interest. It appears that after long hesitation Petrini
set himself to write a work genuinely conceived for the
harp, and in this he succeeded fully.
This concerto consists of two movements. The first,
allegro moderato, contains great arpeggios of four
octaves, in triplet eighth-notes which produce an extraordinary
effect on the harp, and light glissandi of an
octave, an effect which was then a novelty. But above
all, this movement contains a rather long cadenza
written by Petrini which reveals the harp as the roman-
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