Review: MusicWebInternational
1. Theme with 9 Variations and Polonaise in E-flat major on Hunter’s Chorus “Wonderful, a Summernight” from F. Kuhlau’s singspiel “Elves’ Hill”, opus 19
Six Divertissements en Forme des Walses”, opus 12
2. No. 1 in E-flat major
3. No. 2 in C major
4. No. 3 in A minor
5. No. 4 in A-flat major
6. No. 5 in F major
7. No. 6 in B minor
Sonata in F major, Opus 17
8. 1. sats: Allegro
9. 2. sats: Tema con Variazioni – Allegretto
Quatre Rondos agreables, opus 23
10. No. 1 in G major
11. No. 2 in A minor
12. No. 3 in C major
13. No. 4 in F major
14. “Les Charmes de Suède” – Fantasy in C minor on Four Swedish Folk Songs and Dances, Opus 18
Carl Schwarz ©
The composer Carl Schwarz is a puzzling figure in Danish music. There are only a few composers that we know less about.
He is not mentioned in any reference book on the history of Danish music, nor in Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians. The all-inclusive German Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart also has nothing to say about him. It is, however, certain that he was born in Kiel, the capital of the Danish-owned duchy Holstein in 1803. There was a considerable and fruitful exchange of knowledge between the universities in Copenhagen and Kiel, so it is hardly surprising that Carl Schwarz arrived in Copenhagen and became a pupil of Kuhlau: he and Weyse were the leading Danish composers at the beginning of the 19th century. Unfortunately, we do not know when Schwarz began to receive tuition, but given that his year of birth was 1803 it is hardly unrealistic to assume that it happened around 1820.
Schwarz must have been a pianist with a natural talent and technique far beyond what was usual. His works are virtuosic in the truest sense of the word, and that he himself was capable of performing them is beyond question, since concerts, private and public, were at that time the only way a composer could create interest in his works. That he was eminently successful in this we can see from the fact that his compositions were published by well-known Danish and foreign publishing firms, Lose in Copenhagen, Böhme und Kranz in Hamburg and even by Lemoine in Paris. Of course, these firms saw commercial possibilities in publishing the music.
RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 2025
CATALOGUE NUMBER: DACOCD 1007
EAN: 5709499100707
