Johann Kaspar Mertz

JK Mertz

Johann Kaspar Mertz , actually Caspar Joseph Mertz (born August 17, 1806 in Preßburg, today Bratislava , † October 14, 1856 in Vienna ), was an Austrian composer and guitarist of the Romantic era .

biography

Caspar Mertz grew up in a poor family. At the age of 12 he was already giving guitar and flute lessons . In Vienna , where he had lived since autumn 1840 and performed as a valued guitar virtuoso, Mertz worked as a teacher and as a concert musician. In Dresden Mertz met the pianist Josephine Plantin, whom he married in December 1842. His work in Vienna took place against the background of the general decline in public interest in the guitar in Vienna. The living conditions in Vienna were therefore very difficult for the Mertz couple and characterized by economic difficulties.

In the biography about Mertz, which Josephine Mertz wrote in 1902 in the magazine “Der Guitarrefreund”, Johann Dubez (1828–1891) is named as a student. The contemporary reviews of the concerts of CJ Mertz come to different evaluations. On the one hand, Regondi's concerts in 1840/41 continued to have an impact, which exposed Mertz's work to a high standard. On the other hand, there was hardly any criticism that did not portray the guitar as an “ungrateful instrument”. A professional, livelihood securing existence as a concert musician was hardly possible against this background. So the livelihood was to be secured primarily from the teaching activity, which also included the need to teach the zither and flute. Nevertheless, Mertz and Dubez were the only well-known representatives of the guitar in Vienna in the second half of the century. Mertz has remained present in the history of the guitar as a composer, especially the revival of the guitar around 1900 has taken on his works.

In 1846 Mertz fell ill. After her husband's death, Josephine Mertz sold his manuscripts and instruments. Numerous works came into the possession of the Swedish engineer Carl Oscar Boije af Gennäs , who left the material to the Swedish Music Collection ( Statens Musikbibliotek ) after his death .

Shortly before Mertz died in 1856 after a serious illness, he won the Brussels guitar composition competition , just ahead of Napoléon Coste .

style

His guitar compositions are similar to Frédéric Chopin's , Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's and Robert Schumann's piano music. In contrast, many of his contemporaries (e.g. Fernando Sor and Dionisio Aguado ) followed composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn . In addition to his own compositions, Mertz's work also includes arrangements of pieces by other composers. He processed a few Schubert songs and several opera arias into pieces for solo guitar.

As a guitarist, Mertz used instruments with an extended range . In the early 1840s he first played an eight-string , later a ten-string guitar, the additional strings of which with the tuning DCHA supplemented the pitch range downwards diatonic . These additional strings ran next to the guitar neck and were only played "empty" and not fingered.

Works

For a guitar:

Nachtviolen, Op. 2
Bard sounds, Op. 13
Concertino
elegy
Hongroise Fantasy
Fantasy originals
Fantasy on Weber's Last Thoughts
Harmony you soir
Introduction et Rondo Brillant, Op. 11
Lander, op.9
La Rimembranza
Le Carneval de Venice, Op. 6th
Le Gondolier
Le Romantique
Les Adieux
Pensée Fugitive
Pianto dell'Amante
Schubert songs

For two guitars:

3 funeral songs (Nänien)
Barcarole
impromptu
Tarantula
Restlessness
Vespergang
Water ride on the Traunsee
Memories of Hungary I + II
serenade
mazurka
German way
Vespers chant
La Rage, Grande Fantaisie concertante

For mandolin and guitar:

Chanson sans parole

Historical references

“JK and Josephine Mertz, the former a guitar virtuoso, the latter, his Gemalin, an excellent pianist, and in Vienna, where she lives, especially popular for teaching, Mertz, who died only a few years ago (around 1860) a born Pressburg, the son of a citizen there. In his hometown he received his first training in violin, cello and guitar playing, then later he further educated himself and perfected himself so much that he appeared publicly in the monthly academies of the Pressburg church association, of which he was a member, and majored Received applause. On September 27th, 1840 he played for the last time in Pießburg, then he went on his first art tour to Vienna, and when he was very popular there, he went abroad, where his playing also found recognition. Now he returned to Vienna, where, like his wife, he gave lessons in music. M. may have been around 50 years old when he died. He also composed some things for his instrument. The original compositions are of no value, but he has composed popular pieces of music, especially from operas, for his instrument, and has published an “Opera Revue, Selected Melodies for the Guitar”, which has forty numbers. Years ago he published a "guitar school", which experts consider to be his most meritorious work. Of his other compositions, the following should also be mentioned: “Nachtviolen, A series of original melodic movements”, 0p. 2; - “Cyanes, as a result of the night violets”, Op. 5; - “Six Schubert songs, transferred for guitar”; - “Bard sounds. Original compositions ”, Op. 13, nos. 1-13; - “Portfolio for guitar players. Light, effective pieces of entertainment in the form of little fantasies ”, Book 1—18, Op.16; - "Kukuk. Musical review. Short entertainment pieces, folk melodies from different countries, etc. For the guitar it is easy to play and has fingering ”, booklet 1-12. - His widow, who lives by giving lectures in Vienna, has also tried his hand at composition, and in 1860 a “Polka des Gnomes”, for piano for two hands, was published by Glöggl in Vienna. [General Wiener Musik-Zeitung. From Dr. Aug. Schmidt (Vienna, 4 °) 2nd year, (1842), No. 137 u. 142, p. 570, - Frankl (LU Dr.), Sonntagsblätter (Vienna, large 8 °) 2nd year (1843), p. 332.] "

Gazette musicale de Paris Published by Gazette musicale de Paris, 1857
1 2 Wiener Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung; By August Schmidt, Ferdinand Luib; Published by A. Strauss, 1841
General musical scoreboard by Ignaz Franz Castelli; Published by Hof and Haslinger., 1840

literature

Constantin von Wurzbach : Mertz, JK and Josephine . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 17th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1867, p. 412 f. ( Digitized version ).
Astrid Stempnik: Concertino or Trois Morceaux? First prize in the Makarov competition in 1856. On the question of the last composition by Johann Kaspar Mertz. in: Guitar & Laute 4, 1982, 1, pp. 25-33.
Masami Kimura: Johann K. or Josef K. Mertz , nova giulianiad, vol. 3 / no. 9-10 / 1986.
Astrid Stempnik: Caspar Joseph Mertz: Life and work of the last guitarist in Austrian Biedermeier (dissertation), Frankfurt 1990, Peter Lang Verlag, ISBN 3-631-41801-9 .
Stefan Hackl: The guitar in Austria - From Abate Costa to Zykan, Innsbruck / Vienna / Bozen, 2011.

Discography

Caspar Joseph Mertz: Guitar Duos , Sonja Prunnbauer and Johannes Tappert on historical guitars (Title: Wasserfahrt am Traunsee, Barcarole, Remembrance of Hungary I + II, Tarantelle, Nänien, Unrest, serenade, Mazurka, Deutsche Weise, Vespergesang, Grande Fantaisie concertante La Rage ), music production Dabringhaus & Grimm, MDG Scene 603 1139-2, 2002
Johann Kaspar Mertz: Bard sounds, Op. 13 , Adam Holzmann, Guitar, NAXOS 8.554556
Caspar Joseph Mertz: Barden Sounds , Graziano Salvoni, Guitar, BRILLIANT Classics 94473
Mertz: Fantasias for solo guitar , Giuseppe Chiaramonte, Guitar, BRILLIANT Classics 95722, 2019

Web links

Remarks

↑ According to Astrid Stempnik (dissertation, 1990) the first names "Johann Kaspar" are incorrect. According to the Bratislava baptismal register, Mertz was given the name "Caspar Joseph". At first he signed his compositions with C. Mertz and later with JC Mertz. As far as is known, he never signed with full first names. The name "Johann" probably only crept in as a mistake in the 20th century - it is even found in many sheet music editions and on CD covers. The following name variants are known from various publications: Johann Kaspar, Caspar Joseph and Joseph Caspar (his brother, who died early, was called that).
↑ Astrid Stempnik: Concertino or Trois Morceaux? First prize in the Makarov competition in 1856. On the question of the last composition by Johann Kaspar Mertz. in: Guitar & Laute 4, 1982, 1, pp. 25-33; here: p. 25
↑ Constantin von Wurzbach : JK and Josephine Mertz. No. 2. In: Biographical Lexicon of the Empire of Austria . 17th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1867, p. 412 f. ( Digitized version ).

personal data
SURNAME	Mertz, Johann Kaspar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian composer and guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH	17th August 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH	Pressburg
DATE OF DEATH	October 14, 1856
Place of death	Vienna

[1] According to Astrid Stempnik (dissertation, 1990) the first names "Johann Kaspar" are incorrect. According to the Bratislava baptismal register, Mertz was given the name "Caspar Joseph". At first he signed his compositions with C. Mertz and later with JC Mertz. As far as is known, he never signed with full first names. The name "Johann" probably only crept in as a mistake in the 20th century - it is even found in many sheet music editions and on CD covers. The following name variants are known from various publications: Johann Kaspar, Caspar Joseph and Joseph Caspar (his brother, who died early, was called that).

[2] Astrid Stempnik: Concertino or Trois Morceaux? First prize in the Makarov competition in 1856. On the question of the last composition by Johann Kaspar Mertz. in: Guitar & Laute 4, 1982, 1, pp. 25-33; here: p. 25

[3] Constantin von Wurzbach : JK and Josephine Mertz. No. 2. In: Biographical Lexicon of the Empire of Austria . 17th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1867, p. 412 f. ( Digitized version ).