Hummel Note
Research notes of composer Hummel
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J. N. Hummel. Includes his life, works, and audio listening.
Recreated through programming:
Hummel’s arranged version of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 26
in D major, “Coronation”
This time, I tried programming Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s famous piano concerto “Coronation” using the piano part arranged by Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
The orchestra uses Mozart’s original score, while the solo piano follows Hummel’s adapted version. It’s really fascinating!
Hummel arrangement: W. A. Mozart / Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, “Coronation”, K. 537
Sources (Scores) and Structure
The original work and orchestral parts are based on Mozart’s original score. The piano part uses Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s arrangement, “Quartet Arrangement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 26, S.142” (1835).
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1st Movement – Cadenza: from Hummel, “Cadenzas for Seven of Mozart’s Piano Concertos, Op. 4 (Op. 46a)”
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2nd Movement – Eingänge (lead-in passages): from Hummel, “Quartet Arrangement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 26, S.142”
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3rd Movement – First Eingang: from Hummel, “Quartet Arrangement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 26, S.142”
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3rd Movement – Second Eingang: from Hummel, “Cadenzas for Seven of Mozart’s Piano Concertos, Op. 4 (Op. 46a)”
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Characteristics of the Hummel Piano Part
The most significant difference is the expanded range: from the 5-octave fortepiano assumed by Mozart to the 7-octave piano of Hummel’s era. This results in a more modern sound, with greater power and brilliance.
Since Hummel was also a student of Mozart, his arrangement gives us insight into how later performers of that period might have played these works.
In the case of the “Coronation” concerto, Mozart’s autograph score contains many omissions, suggesting that it was intended to be performed with a degree of improvisation. Hummel fills in these gaps, supplementing the material and shaping it into a more fully playable form.
No Left Hand!? The Mystery of Mozart’s Autograph Score
In the autograph score of the “Coronation” concerto, there are many passages where only chord symbols are written for the left hand. If played literally, some sections would result in right-hand-only performance—especially in the third movement, which is full of virtuosic right-hand passages.
Hummel transforms these into passages that fully utilize both hands, creating a more virtuosic texture. In the second movement in particular, he fills in what was originally almost entirely blank accompaniment.
As a result, the piece as a whole can be heard as a more complete and fully realized “concerto.”
In the opening of the middle section of the second movement, the left hand of the piano solo is omitted in Mozart’s original, but Hummel supplies it with his own additions.
At the time, performers would naturally add ornaments and improvisatory passages that were not written in the score. Hummel essentially notated these practices, incorporating scales and arpeggios to create a more brilliant and technically demanding piano part.
Another Editor: The André Edition
Incidentally, the version of the “Coronation” concerto most commonly performed today is based on the first edition published in 1794 by Johann André. In this edition, the blank sections of Mozart’s autograph were filled in rather simply. Musicologist Alfred Einstein described it as “straightforward and safe, but at times somewhat clumsy.” Nevertheless, it has become one of the standard reference editions.
In contrast, Hummel’s version is more pianistic and vividly expressive in its additions.
Hummel’s Arrangements of Mozart’s Concertos
Hummel arranged seven of Mozart’s piano concertos into chamber versions.
The instrumentation is flute + violin + cello + piano, and these were published from the late 1820s to the early 1830s:
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K.466 (No. 20 / 1827) with cadenza
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K.503 (No. 25 / 1828) with cadenza
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K.316a (No. 10 / 1829) adapted from a two-piano version into a solo version
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K.491 (No. 24 / 1830) with cadenza
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K.537 (No. 26 “Coronation” / 1835) with Eingänge in Movements 2 and 3
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K.482 (No. 22 / 1836) with cadenza
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K.456 (No. 18 / 1830)
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In addition, he arranged overtures by Haydn and Beethoven for the same ensemble, but his most valuable contributions are undoubtedly these arrangements of Mozart’s concertos and their richly developed piano parts.
The Cadenza Problem
For this “Coronation” concerto, Hummel did not write a cadenza for the first movement in his quartet arrangement. Instead, he provided Eingänge (short linking passages) in the second and third movements.
When programming this piece, I faced the question: what should be used for the first movement cadenza?
Mozart himself did not leave a cadenza for this concerto.
Then I recalled Hummel’s “Cadenzas for Seven of Mozart’s Piano Concertos, Op. 4,” published when he was still in his teens.
This collection actually includes a cadenza for the first movement of No. 26, as well as the second Eingang for the third movement!
So in this performance:
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The piano part is the highly refined version by Hummel from his later years
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The cadenza comes from Hummel’s youthful work in his late teens
In other words, it is an “all-Hummel” construction spanning different periods of his life.
Conclusion
The “Coronation” concerto is so famous that listeners familiar with it may initially feel a sense of difference when hearing Hummel’s arrangement.
However, while creating this with DTM, I found myself imagining a scene in which Hummel is performing his teacher Mozart’s concerto in a Viennese theater. With that image in mind, it becomes fascinating to consider how Mozart’s direct pupil might have supplemented the score and envisioned its sound—almost like reaching across history.