Thursday, December 26, 2024

December 26 - Franz [François] Hünten (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 26th are here: Earle Brown (2019), Steve Allen (2020), George Winston (2021), George Winston (2022), and Victor Hely-Hutchinson (2023)

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Franz [sometimes François] Hünten (26 December 1792 – 22 February 1878), was a German pianist and composer of salon music. s



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Social Studies


He wrote pleasant and technically undemanding piano music: rondos, fantasies, variations, dances, etc. Hünten's music was wildly popular throughout France, Germany, and England, but critical notices inevitably described it as trifling and later assessments have been much the same. – Wikipedia


Hünten’s music focused on

The music played in the salon.

This genre never ages well,

But Hünten knew his wares would sell

To leisured bourgeois clientele.

 

For this he offered no excuses

Since music for domestic uses

Enlivened his creative juices.


Though critics called his pieces trifling,

They made the evening hours less stifling,

And carping critics notwithstanding

He kept his pieces undemanding,

And this, he knew, was clever branding

When rondos and the latest dances

Provide a backdrop that enhances

The chances of romantic glances.

 

 

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