Biography
Krumpholtz worked as both an instrument designer and a harpist, advancing the harp through the addition of an eighth pedal that opened resonant chambers and the incorporation of eight steel strings onto what had been a twenty-four-string instrument. He also offered adaptive suggestions for later refinements, ideas that Erard later put into practice during the nineteenth century following Krumpholtz’s death.
Expected to master the horn as a young music student because of the patronage extended by the counts Kinsky—his family’s feudal lords—he instead devoted himself to the harp, the instrument favored by his mother, a decision that displeased the count. In his late twenties Krumpholtz began presenting public harp recitals; after Haydn heard one of these performances, the composer provided him with training in composition and appointed him harpist within the Esterhazy musical establishment.
Krumpholtz produced concertos, sonatas, and variations for the harp, many of which remain standard and respected works. Their enduring qualities stem from modulations suited to the instrument’s ongoing mechanical development, technical requirements that reflected its evolving capabilities, an expanded compositional grasp of its idiomatic possibilities, and a generous contribution to the harp’s overall repertory.
Expected to master the horn as a young music student because of the patronage extended by the counts Kinsky—his family’s feudal lords—he instead devoted himself to the harp, the instrument favored by his mother, a decision that displeased the count. In his late twenties Krumpholtz began presenting public harp recitals; after Haydn heard one of these performances, the composer provided him with training in composition and appointed him harpist within the Esterhazy musical establishment.
Krumpholtz produced concertos, sonatas, and variations for the harp, many of which remain standard and respected works. Their enduring qualities stem from modulations suited to the instrument’s ongoing mechanical development, technical requirements that reflected its evolving capabilities, an expanded compositional grasp of its idiomatic possibilities, and a generous contribution to the harp’s overall repertory.