Composers

Austrian composer, pianist–guitarist, and one of Vienna’s most influential early-19th-century music publishers. After moving to Vienna, he co-founded Cappi & Diabelli in 1818 and, from 1824, led his own house Diabelli & Co., which championed composers such as Schubert and shaped Biedermeier musical taste.  In 1819 he circulated his newly written C-major waltz and invited dozens of composers to contribute a single variation—an initiative issued under the patriotic title Vaterländischer Künstlerverein.  Beethoven declined the collaborative premise but produced 33 Variations (Op. 120); Diabelli published these separately as Vol. I (1823) and the remaining 50 variations by 50 composers—including the eleven-year-old Liszt— as Vol. II (1824), with a coda by Carl Czerny.

Amsterdam-born Eduard de Hartog studied with Jan George Bertelman and Gustaaf Adolf Heinze before continuing his education in Paris with Antoine Elwart and others, later dividing his career between the Netherlands and France. He composed more than eighty works—ranging from operas and symphonic poems to chamber music and piano pieces—yet has since faded into obscurity. His Sonate-Symphonie, Op. 21, exemplifies his cosmopolitan outlook: a four-movement piano work that combines classical design with Romantic virtuosity and stylistic eclecticism, echoing Beethoven, Chopin, and the brilliance of Henry Litolff while maintaining an individual voice. His music is especially rewarding for pianists interested in rediscovering neglected nineteenth-century repertoire that blends formal clarity with theatrical flair.

Adolf von Henselt (1814–1889) Adolf von Henselt was a German pianist and composer once regarded as the equal of Chopin and Liszt. Trained by Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Simon Sechter, he combined a classical foundation with the emerging Romantic idiom. After a brilliant but short-lived career as a virtuoso, curtailed by severe stage fright, he settled in St. Petersburg, where he became court pianist and an influential pedagogue. His teaching shaped the Russian piano school, influencing figures who would later inspire Rachmaninov and Scriabin. Henselt’s works – including the Variations de Concert, Poème d’Amour, Impromptus, Grande Valse, and Ballade – reveal a distinctive blend of lyrical cantabile and pianistic innovation, offering a bridge between early German Romanticism and the Russian tradition.

Carl Loewe, often called the “North German Schubert,” was a prolific composer of ballads and songs but also left behind significant instrumental works, including five piano sonatas. Among them, the Zigeunersonate, Op. 107b (1847), stands out for its fusion of classical sonata form with vivid programmatic imagery. Written during his long tenure in Stettin, where he shaped musical life as cantor and conductor, the sonata reveals Loewe’s position between Beethovenian tradition and Romantic fantasy, coloured by the 19th-century fascination with exoticism. Though his reputation rests mainly on his vocal music, this ambitious work shows his capacity for large-scale instrumental writing. His music is especially rewarding for pianists seeking Romantic repertoire that balances narrative character with classical clarity, offering both interpretive depth and audience appeal.

Clara Schumann—pianist, composer, and leading figure of early Romanticism—wrote a substantial body of piano music as a teenager under the rigorous training of Friedrich Wieck. Between 1831 and 1837 she produced the works gathered in FE007—Caprices en Forme de Valses (Op. 2), Romance Variée (Op. 3), Valses Romantiques (Op. 4), 4 Pièces Caractéristiques (Op. 5), Soirées musicales (Op. 6), and Variations de Concert (Op. 8)—which combine poised virtuosity with clear melodic writing, inventive harmony, and idiomatic keyboard textures. Active in the same circles as Mendelssohn, Chopin, and later Liszt, she developed a distinct compositional voice that balances character-piece refinement with concert bravura, and she performed these works widely while establishing a European career. Although later years reduced her time for composition, these early pieces show a fully formed musical mind and a command of form that extends from cyclical suites to variation technique. Her music is especially rewarding for advanced pianists seeking early-Romantic repertoire that couples technical sophistication with lyrical depth and disciplined structure.

Ludwig Schuncke was a German pianist and composer whose short life left only a handful of works, yet his Grande Sonate in G minor, Op. 3 (1832/34), reveals a striking early Romantic voice. Born in Kassel into a family of horn players, he toured as a prodigy, studied in Paris with Kalkbrenner, Herz, and Reicha, and later settled in Leipzig, where he befriended Robert Schumann and co-founded the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. The Grande Sonate—dedicated to Schumann—combines Beethovenian rigour with Romantic lyricism and pianistic brilliance, unified by a recurring three-note motif. Admired by Schumann and Mendelssohn, the work testifies to Schuncke’s promise as a composer who embraced the sonata form at a moment when it was falling from favour. His music is especially rewarding for advanced pianists seeking substantial Romantic repertoire beyond the canonical masters.

Dutch composer, pianist, and teacher whose music—little touched by the radical modernism of his time—occupies a modest but distinctive place in early 20th-century Dutch musical life. Often inspired by nature and Eastern themes, he created an evocative sound world that some liken to Debussy in atmosphere, though unmistakably his own. His piano output is central, with works such as Zes Gezichten op de Fuji (Op. 9), the Preludes (Op. 17), and two sonatas, alongside chamber, choral, and vocal compositions. At his home in The Hague and at the Royal Conservatoire he taught piano and composition, counting Hans Henkemans among his pupils. Sigtenhorst Meyer’s music, poetic and refined rather than virtuosic, is especially rewarding for pianists and ensembles interested in atmospheric repertoire that bridges impressionistic colour with Dutch cultural roots.

Joseph Woelfl, born in Salzburg and trained by Leopold Mozart and Michael Haydn, was a celebrated pianist and composer who achieved fame across Europe. In the 1790s he rose to prominence in Vienna, even facing Beethoven in a famous piano duel of 1799, and later established himself in Paris and London. His music bridges Mozart’s elegance and clarity with the virtuosity of Hummel and Clementi, marked by brilliant passagework, lyrical invention, and technical flair. The Trois Sonates, Op. 33 (Paris, 1805) exemplify this balance: classical in form yet rich in pianistic bravura, with movements ranging from lyrical cantabile to dazzling finales. His works are especially rewarding for pianists seeking Classical-period repertoire that combines accessibility with brilliance, offering a fresh perspective on Viennese pianism around 1800.