Nicolas de Krufft – Sonata Op. IV Dedicated to Beethoven
Nicolas de Krufft – Sonate pour le Pianoforte
composée et dediée à Monsieur Louis van Beethoven par le Baron Nicolas de Krufft Op. IV.
Nicolas de Krufft – Sonata for Pianoforte composed and dedicated to Monsieur Louis van Beethoven by Baron Nicolas de Krufft, Op. IV
Freiherr Nikolaus (Niklas) von Krufft, rendered in French on musical title pages as Nicolas de Krufft (Vienna, February 1, 1779 – April 16, 1818), was an Austrian composer and pianist. He is mainly known for having composed a small number of works for French horn—his only compositions to remain in the repertoire to this day.
Son of State Minister Andreas Adolph Freiherr von Krufft, he studied philosophy at the University of Vienna between 1794 and 1799, earning a law degree the following year. In 1801, he was appointed Secretary of State (Staatskanzlei) and worked at the State Chancellery Court (Staatskanzleirathe).
His passion for music began with piano lessons from his mother, Maria Anna née von Haan, an excellent pianist and connoisseur of classical music. He later studied composition with Johann Albrechtsberger, who also taught Ludwig van Beethoven. Evidently, a certain friendship developed between the two, though few traces remain to reconstruct their relationship.
As Secretary of State, Krufft often accompanied Prince Metternich—traveling with him to Paris in 1815 and to Italy in June 1817. For his service alongside the prince, from Russia to Sicily, he was awarded a career medal.
His true passion, however, was music. He studied and composed—often in his free time or late at night. This effort led to a premature nervous breakdown: even the sound of the piano became unbearable. The stress likely contributed to his early death.
Krufft belongs to the early Romantic era. His works influenced the young Franz Schubert. The coexistence of classical elements and Romantic innovations (e.g., harmonic language, remote modulations) is a hallmark of his generation—like Beethoven’s.
He composed for solo instruments such as bassoon and French horn, as well as piano pieces. He also set a significant number of texts to music, using verses by Friedrich von Schiller, Johannes Daniel Falk, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others.
Manuscripts and Dedications
- Sonata Score: Property of the Beethoven Music Research Center (Centro Ricerche Musicali Beethoveniane).
- Variations dedicated to Dorothea Ertmann: Also held by the Center.
His “24 Préludes et Fugues pour le Piano forte dans les douze tons des modes majeurs et mineurs” (Paris, 1814) received high praise from the renowned publisher and piano maker Pleyel: „Ce receuil est original et entièrement inédit. Le compositeur et le claveciniste y trouveront ce que l’art du contrepoint offre de savant, joint à une trésgrande variété de difficultés propres à exercer la main. Cet ouvrage peut être rangé, à juste titre, dans la classe des oeuvres les plus distinguées en ce genre“. “This collection is original and entirely unpublished. The composer and harpsichordist will find here what the art of counterpoint offers in terms of mastery, combined with a great variety of difficulties suited to training the hand. This work rightly belongs among the most distinguished in its genre.”
Notably, these preludes were dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, Beethoven’s great patron. Krufft’s set of variations (title page shown on the site) was dedicated to Baroness Dorothea Ertmann, née Graumann (May 3, 1781 – March 16, 1849), Beethoven’s beloved “Dorothea-Caecilia,” dedicatee of Sonata Op. 101.
Upon his death, the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung described him as: “A pianist of rare gifts, and an excellent composer who reached such heights through study and spirit.” In 1803, he wrote the sonata dedicated to his great friend Beethoven:
Sonata for Pianoforte: Op. IV / composed and dedicated to Monsieur Louis van Beethoven by Baron Nicolas de Krufft. – Vienna: Bureau d’Arts et d’Industrie, [1803]. – 15 pages.
This publication was mentioned in the “Intelligenzblatt Nr. 15” of the famous Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung in June 1804.
Sonate pour le Pianoforte composée et dediée à Monsieur Louis van Beethoven par le Baron Nicolas de Krufft Op. IV. Sebastiano Mazzoleni – Piano
I – Allegro
II – Adagio
II – Menuetto
IV – Prestissimo
Sources and References
Consultable resources on Niklas Baron Krufft and his family include:
- Oesterreichisches Archiv für Geschichte (Vienna, 1831)
- Leipziger Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (1818, 1819)
- Universal-Lexikon der Tonkunst (Stuttgart, 1849)
- Neues Universal-Lexikon der Tonkunst (Dresden, 1856)
- Die deutschen Schriftstellerinen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (Leipzig, 1823)
- Pantheon jetzt lebender Dichter (Helmstädt, 1823)
- Oesterreichische National-Encyklopädie (Vienna, 1835)
- Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler (Leipzig, 1813)
Krufft also created a rather lengthy version of the Lied “In questa tomba oscura,” the subject of a detailed study on the site.
This Sonata is part of the project “Research Becomes Art – Dedicated to Beethoven”,
an artistic exploration curated by pianists Sebastiano Mazzoleni and Sandra Conte.