Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806–1856)
A virtuoso guitarist born in Pressburg and settled in Vienna, Mertz brought the romantic language of Chopin and Schumann to the guitar.
Born in 1806 in Pressburg (Bratislava), Johann Kaspar Mertz settled in Vienna around 1840, where he pursued a career as performer and teacher. He died in Vienna in 1856.
Unlike the classical guitarists of Sor’s and Giuliani’s generation, Mertz wrote in a fully romantic style, inspired by the piano: chromatic harmonies, wide arpeggios, passionate melodies. His Bardenklänge, Op. 13, are a cycle of character pieces, comparable to pianists’ lyric pieces.
His concert works, such as the Hungarian Fantasy or the Elegy, are among the peaks of the romantic guitar repertoire. He also wrote teaching studies.
Players learn to play “like a romantic pianist” on the guitar: long lines, colours, controlled rubato.
Guitar sheet music (7)
- Etude in A minor · level 5
- Andante (A. Eggers’s Guitar-Skole, No. 4) · level 4
- Andantino (A. Eggers’s Guitar-Skole, No. 5) · level 4
- Andante (Studies in Style No. 3) (A. Eggers’s Guitar-Skole, No. 7) · level 4
- Adagio (A. Eggers’s Guitar-Skole, No. 9) · level 4
- Cantabile (A. Eggers’s Guitar-Skole, No. 12) · level 4
- Tempo di marcia (A. Eggers’s Guitar-Skole, No. 21) · level 4