Fantasias

Anselm Hüttenbrenner, friend and fellow student of Franz Schubert and a respected pianist himself, left an impressive oeuvre of piano music. Building on the style of Viennese Classicism and Franz Schubert, he developed an independent musical language of high quality and stylistic diversity, which is characterised in particular by expressive harmonic progressions.

This collection unites four musically very different, sometimes outspoken virtuoso fantasies. Each of these effective concert pieces represents a specific creative phase of Hüttenbrenner; Therefore, together they reflect his compositional path in an exemplary way. The impressive Fantaisie tragique, dedicated to the prominent pianist Caroline Perthaler and composed during his time as artistic director of the Styrian Music Association, follows a classically influenced early work from his student days in Vienna with Schubert. The fantasy is stylistically linked to his ghost scenes. The longing for the ideal forms the grandiose climax of these works, before the memory of the ascent of Bachern Hüttenbrenner's turn to a late style is revealed, which points to the future through its subtle simplicity.

This first edition meets all existing critical and practical music requirements. It offers a clear musical text as well as a detailed foreword and a detailed critical report, each in German and English.