Andante avec IX Variations pour le Clavecin
by A. Gürlich. (Price in the Neue berlinische
Musikhandlung, 6 Gr.)
These well written and pleasing variations will
surely make a very nice gift for female keyboard players
who have not yet been able to master the far more
difficult keyboard variations by Fasch and Mozart.
Commentary
The composer of the variations under review here is Joseph Augustin Gürrlich (1761–1817), born in Münsterberg in Silesia. He was a contrabassist in the orchestra of the royal Kapelle in Berlin from 1790, and co-director (with F. L. Seidel) of the royal opera in Berlin from 1811 until his death. The “neue berlinische Musikhandlung” (New Berlin Music Shop) mentioned in the review had recently been established by Friedrich Ludwig Æmilius Kunzen (editor of the Musikalisches Wochenblatt) and Johann Friedrich Reichardt. “Fasch” refers to Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch (1736–1800); the review may be referring specifically to Fasch’s Ariette pour le clavecin ou piano forte avec quatorze variations, published by Hummel in Berlin in 1782, apparently the only set of variations that Fasch had published by this date. As the review suggests, Fasch’s variations are comparable in difficulty to Mozart’s.
From Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, Ariette pour le clavecin ou
piano forte avec quatorze variations.
(Berlin, J. J. Hummel)
Notes
On the Musikalische Wochenblatt, see the Notes to our entry for 10 Oct 1791. This short review is also published in Schwob (2015, 177).
Bibliography
Schwob, Rainer J. ed. 2015. W. A. Mozart im Spiegel des Musikjournalismus, deutschsprachiger Raum 1782–1800. Beiträge zur Mozart-Dokumentation, vol. 1. Stuttgart: Carus Verlag.
Credit: DE
Author:
Dexter Edge
Search Term: mozart
Categories:
Reception
First Published: Fri, 19 Sep 2014
Updated: Sun, 15 Jan 2023
Print Citation:
Edge, Dexter. 2014. “Reference to Mozart in a review of keyboard variations by Joseph Augustin Gürrlich (24 October 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 19 September 2014; updated 15 January 2023. https://www.mozartdocuments.org/documents/24-october-1791/
Web Citation:
Edge, Dexter. 2014. “Reference to Mozart in a review of keyboard variations by Joseph Augustin Gürrlich (24 October 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 19 September 2014; updated 15 January 2023. [direct link]
