Abel, Carl Friedrich

Abel, Carl Friedrich, German viola da gambist and composer; b. Côthen, Dec. 22, 1723; d. London, June 20, 1787. He was the son of the viola da gambist and violinist Christian Ferdinand Abel (b. Hannover, c. 1683; d. Côthen, 1737), with whom he most likely studied. By 1743 he was a viola da gambist in the Dresden court orch., and remained with it until about 1757. After traveling on the Continent, he settled in London and made his debut as a keyboard artist and composer on April 5, 1759. From 1764 until his death he was a court musician to Queen Charlotte. With J. C. Bach, he also was active in the notable Bach-Abel Concerts from 1765 to 1782. After another sojourn on the Continent, he returned to London and was active in the Grand Professional Concerts from 1785 to 1787. Abel composed 23 syms., 2 works designated as Sinfonia Concertante, 6 concertos for Harpsichord or Piano, 7 flute concertos, 2 cello concertos, much chamber music, and various viola da gamba pieces. He also wrote overtures to T. A. Arne’s opera Love in a Village and S. Arnold’s opera The Summer’s Tale. W. Knape edited his works (Cuxhaven, 1958-74) and a Bibliographische-thematisches Verzeichnis der Kompositioen von K.F. A. (Cuxhaven, 1971).

Bibliography

W. Knape, Die Sinfonien von K. F. A. (diss., Univ. of Leipzig, 1934); S. Helm, G F. A., Symphonist: A Biographical, Stylistic and Bibliographical Study (diss., Univ. of Mich., 1953); W. Knape, K.F. A.: Leben und Werk eines frühklassischen Komponisten (Bremen, 1973); M. Charters, The Bach-A. Concerts (diss., Univ. of London, 1978).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire