CD 68
Chamber Music 4
P. Würthle, The Goldene Dachl in Innsbruck, about 1840
Johann Baptist Gänsbacher (1778-1844) KAMMERMUSIK Klavier, Violine, Violoncello Johann Baptist Gänsbacher carried on a lively correspondence with his best friend Carl Maria von Weber. Among other topics, these usually extremely affectionate letters were also about love affairs. The true identity of the beloved, however, was concealed behind an indication of key. Gänsbacher’s passionate Phantasie A.F. for violin and piano (track 2) refers to an encoded secret of this kind. A.F. obviously refers to Countess Anna Firmian. Gänsbacher’s connection to the family of Count Firmian goes back to 1801 when he fi rst got to know the aristocratic family, whose origins were in the Tyrol, in Vienna. Because of his talent and probably also because of his personal appeal, he was soon accepted into the family like a son. The tremendous fantasy piece for violin and piano was written in 1811 in Prague. Gänsbacher’s passionate feelings for the countess must have been fully inflamed at the time, which is also evident in other compositions dating from the same year, such as the graceful E Major Divertimento for Piano Duet (see CD 66). It was around this time that Weber wrote to Gänsbacher, who had moved away from Prague and joined the Imperial Rifl emen’s Regiment in Innsbruck as an offi cer: “... Also I am doubly happy about it because of your remark in Prague that you would not have the strength to leave F major….”
Track 8, 1:40
Phantasie A.F.
Agitato