Johann Peter Salomon

Johann Peter Salomon (February 20, 1745 (baptized) – November 28, 1815) was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario.

He was born in Bonn and was the second son of Philipp Salomon, an oboist at the court in Bonn. At the age of thirteen, Saloman became a violinist in the court orchestra and six years later became the concert master of the orchestra of Prince Heinrich of Prussia. He composed several works for the court, including four operas and an oratorio. He moved to London in the early 1780s, where he worked as a composer and played violin both as a celebrated soloist and in a string quartet. He made his first public appearance at Covent Garden on 23 March 1781.

While in England, Salomon composed two operas for the Royal Opera, several art songs, a number of concertos, and chamber music pieces. He is perhaps best known today, however, as a concert organiser and conductor.

Salomon brought Joseph Haydn to London in 1791-92 and 1794-95, conducting many of the works that Haydn composed while in England. Haydn wrote his symphonies numbers 93 to 104 for these trips, which are sometimes known as the "Salomon" symphonies (they are also known as the London symphonies). Haydn's esteem for his impresario and orchestral leader can sometimes be seen in the symphonies (for example, the phrase marked ‘Salomon solo ma piano’ in the trio of no.97, and the florid violin part of no.103, second movement); the Concertante in B (h I:105) was composed for Salomon, who played the solo violin part; and the six string quartets opp.71 and 74 (h III:69–74), written between the two London visits in 1793, though dedicated to Count Apponyi, were clearly designed for the public performances that Salomon's quartet gave in London. Salomon is also said to have had a hand in providing Haydn with the original model for the text of "The Creation". He was one of the founder-members of the Philharmonic Society and led the orchestra at its first concert on 8 March 1813.

Salomon is also believed to have given the "Jupiter" nickname to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Symphony No. 41". Amongst his protegés was the English composer and soloist George Pinto.

Salomon died in London in 1815 and is buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.

External links

* [http://www.closelinks.com/facts.php?id=2180&name=Johann+Peter&surname=Salomon www.closelinks.com Free Family Tree]

ources

*Hubert Unverricht. The "New Grove Dictionary of Opera", edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), ISBN 0-333-73432-7 and ISBN 1-56159-228-5
*"The Oxford Dictionary of Opera", by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), ISBN 0-19-869164-5