Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee (1786 – 1868) who was born in Lucerne son of an officer of the swiss troops in Corsica, was a cellist, violinist and percussionist for the early music festivals of the «Schweizerischen Musikgesellschaft» in the years from 1808 - 1810. A little later, he met Beethoven via Nägeli’s connection in Vienna and tought voice at the Pestalozzi Institute in Yverdon from 1815 to 18. After settling down in Frankfurt am Main in 1817, he founded a «Liederkranz» after the example of Nägeli in order to turn into practice Nägeli’s musicpaedagogic ideas meaning choir singing. Schnyder von Wartensee went back to Lucerne in 1844, but spent his last years back in Frankfurt, where with his opera «Fortunat» one of his main works had its premiere.
Amongst those works are his symphony in c-minor (1827), dedicated to Joseph Haydn, as well as the concert for 2 clarinets and orchestra (around 1820) and the 12 Swiss songs for male choir (1834). The outstanding pieces among the piano music are two sonatas, one in c-major the other one in f-minor as well as the «Lustiges Drey mal Drey / nine scherzi / for piano» (around 1825) published in Frankfurt by Fr. Ph. Dunst. In this collection we find the Scherzo in e-major which is close to Beethoven’s style, where counterpointal playfulness and very short but suggestive themes dominate.
Walter Labhart
Illustration: Dokumentationsbibliothek Walter Labhart CH-5304 Endingen AG
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