CD 65
Chamber Music 1
Maximilian Velsern, Promenading in the Neustadt of Innsbruck, 1824
Among Johann Baptist Gänsbacher’s best works are his compositions for piano duet. In this genre he is certainly one of the best composers of his age. Documented on CDs 65 and 66 are his complete works for piano duet, which have been preserved in their entirety. Besides intensifying the sound and making full-voiced use of the keyboard instrument, playing piano with four hands also has a social side. Enveloped in an atmosphere of harmony and friendship, this is expressed not least in the technique of crossing hands, such as in the piano variations in op. 9 (track 6). Gänsbacher and Weber often played the op. 9 variations together at so-called musical soirées, and in a review in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (Leipzig 1811), Weber expresses his opinion on the charming piece by his friend as follows: “A very attractive trifle [in the sense of a small composition], it stands out considerably in the mass of variations currently appearing. Mr Gänsbacher combines a beautiful melody with an expertise in harmony that is worthy of acclaim, and the critic, who knows several and bigger compositions of his, makes it his welcome duty to make the public aware of these variations too. They all keep well to the friendly character of the theme and are brilliant without great diffi culties, and therefore deserve to be found on the pianos of all music- lovers.”
Track 10, 2:00
Divertissement in G-major, op.20
Andantino