Very nice music from J.H. Roman ! He is a remarkable composer, absorbing different styles with ease.
I see the 'Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians' gives a little information on him -
His father, Johan Roman, was a member of the Swedish royal chapel; his mother came from a family of German descent who had settled in Sweden during the 17th century. His paternal ancestors, of Swedish origin, had lived in Finland; the name Roman may be derived from the Finnish place name Raumo. Roman became a member of the royal chapel as early as 1711, his principal instruments being violin and oboe. A grant from King Charles XII enabled him to pursue his musical studies in England from about 1715 to 1721; there he may have studied with Pepusch, had contact with Ariosti, G.B. Bononcini, Geminiani and Handel among others, and was for a time in the service of the Duke of Newcastle as a second violinist. After his return to Sweden he was appointed deputy master of the chapel in 1721 and became the leader of the court orchestra in 1727.
During the 1720's Roman composed several festive cantatas for the court and in 1727 published a collection of 12 sonatas for flute, his only complete work to appear in print during his lifetime. At the same time he was extremely active as an organizer: he considerably improved the standard of the royal chapel and in 1731 introduced the first public concerts in Stockholm.
A year after the conclusion of his brief first marriage (1730–34) Roman embarked on his second journey outside Sweden, this time visiting England, France, Italy, Austria and Germany (1735–7); he returned with new attitudes towards musical style and also brought back much music for the royal chapel. In 1738 he married again and in 1744, with five children, was widowed for the second time. In 1740 he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Science (established in 1739), thanks probably in large part to his strong interest in demonstrating ‘the suitability of the Swedish language to church music’.
The death of his patroness, Queen Ulrika Eleonora, in 1741 marked a turning-point for Roman; the following year he was beset by ill-health and professional opposition. The new crown princess, Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia (sister of Frederick the Great), brought to Sweden new tastes, and her husband, Adolph Frederik, had a competing princely chapel. For the royal wedding in 1744 Roman composed the large orchestral suite Drottningholmsmusique, one of his finest works. The following year he retired due to deafness, leaving his student, Per Brant, to defend the court orchestra against the aggressive new chapel of the crown prince, which began to compete even in the public concerts. Roman left Stockholm to settle on the small estate of Haraldsmåla near the town of Kalmar in south-east Sweden. He made a last visit to Stockholm in 1751–2, in part to direct the funeral and coronation music on the accession of Adolph Frederik. His principal activity in the remaining years of his life seems to have been the translation into Swedish of theoretical works on music, including those of Gasparini and Keller, as well as the adaptation of sacred works to that language. Several of his sacred vocal works also date from this last period. In 1767, nine years after his death, the Royal Academy of Science held a commemorative ceremony; the Äreminne (memorial) by the royal secretary A.M. Sahlstedt on that occasion is the earliest summary of Roman’s career and significance, and portrays the composer sympathetically, stressing his humility and good humour as well as his skill and industry. No portrait of Roman survives although one of the musicians portrayed on a mural at the provincial estate of Count Horn at Fogelvik may be the composer.
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I must listen more to his works since it's possible to hear in that concerto the influence of various others such as Vivaldi and even Fasch. He seems to have been very keen (like Bach) to become familiar with all musical influences of his time.
Regards
Robert
