MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart/Schubert/Huttenbrenner: Lieder

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his first, unfortunately no longer preserved songs at the age of eight. In the first edition of his works (1799) the preserved songs from a later date were dismissed as „occassional and favour pieces". The second half of the 18th century the piano accompanied solo song was a genre that was still little appreciated by the public, which gave preference to concert arias, vocal ensembles and choirs. It was not until the early 19th century and thanks mostly to Franz Schubert that lied was elevated in status to become a fixture of the German-language concert circuit.

Another composer of this genre was Anselm Hüttenbrenner. One critic of the Graz daily Tagespost wrote the following: „ But those who like the countless little songs of Schubert .. will also very much appreciate the .. tone poems of Hüttenbrenner. They simply and unpretentiously flow out of a sincere and warm feeling, never overshadowed by „the pale cast of thought", by tiresome, laborious reflection, which makes so many new and brand-new compositions virtually unbearable, sickly albeit very soft and emotional.

In these verse songs a flowing, catchy melody is still the main thing; carefully composed piano accompaniment .. not without many fine and characteristic detail. If A. Hüttenbrenner was not mentioned as the composer on the cover, one could easily attribute these songs to his old friend and fellow student, the prince of song, Franz Schubert."