A cult of virtuosi proved itself to be the crucial factor in the commencing Romanticism of the 19th century. Many period concert productions were closely connected to artists – performers and composers in one. Their extraordinary creativity and numerous activities also contributed to the Viennese concert life in the early decades of the 19th century. In Vienna, “the most fashionable of all virtuosi and composers of their instrument” was the pianist Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837), who, having returned from his concert tours in Europe, actively participated in the Viennese concert life during the period 1811–1816. Many virtuosi can be found among his artistic partners, among others, the violinist Joseph Mayseder, cellist Joseph Merk, flutist Johann Sedlatzek and excellent Italian guitarist Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829). Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s guitar pieces originated especially due to his collaboration with Giuliani. Their exceptional success was partly encouraged by the atmosphere of the Congress of Vienna (1814), which proved to be extraordinarily favourable for artistic productions. The origination of Hummel’s guitar works is connected precisely to this period. Guitar is present in his two Grande Serenades, Op. 63 and Op. 66, in La Sentinelle, Op. 71, in which the instrument is part of chamber ensemble, and in several duets for guitar and piano. Apart from La Sentinelle, which consists of variations on a French national song, all other pieces maintain the form of pot-pourri.
Pot-pourri as a non-repetitive musical form, typical for its series of mutually heterogeneous popular themes and melodies, often showcased creative invention, instrumental virtuosity and, with the more skilful authors, also an ability to develop the structure of a spacious fantasy piece. In addition to being disseminated through prints, in Vienna, this music – light in its character – was popular namely as a part of concert productions, festive occasions and parties in imperial gardens, palaces and private houses. These productions helped boost the popularity of the artists and gain a significant profit. Johann Nepomuk Hummel also took a fancy to pot-pourri. He wrote eight in total – in addition to the above, which used guitar, there are three for solo piano (Op. 47, Op. 58, Op. 59) and one for viola/cello and orchestra (Op. 94/95). Hummel’s guitar pot-pourris are linked by a unique attribute, that being the aspect of collective composition. All of them are – though in various measure – works of several authors, usually the performers-virtuosi participating in the performance. Variations written by particular musicians are found in them; the inscriptions read e.g. de Mons. Giuliani, de Mons. Mayseder, de Mons. Hummel, etc. Hummel’s task was obviously to outline the concept, the overall architecture of the work and doubtlessly his own piano part. He left wide space for his music partners to apply their own invention. It is apparent that the guitar part originated under the control of Giuliani, whose musical and instrumental style is strongly present here.
Hummel’s first guitar Pot-pourri for piano and guitar, Op. 53, appears as the most authentic from the compositional aspect. Although the title page of its first edition (Artaria, Vienna, ca 1815) reveals that it is a composition for piano accompanied by guitar, it is evident from the opening that it is a dialogue of two equal instruments. This fact is reflected in the title page of its Paris edition (Richault, after 1823). The guitar part is, unusually, written for the traditional guitar widely used by the public, tuned in E. In chamber music, specially in concert productions, the terz guitar was used more frequently because of its more resonant sound. It was a smaller variant of the instrument, tuned a third higher, which was less common in households, and this negatively influenced the sale of published note material dedicated to this instrument. This Pot-pourri is dominated by opera themes: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Don Giovanni, 1787, François Boieldieu – Jean de Paris, 1812, Gaspare Spontini – La Vestale, 1807, and Giovanni Paisiello – Il re Teodoro in Venezia, 1784. However, we can also find folk themes in it: Air Russe, in this case the song Yechal kozak za Dunay, and dancing Walzer. Though it is possible that the guitar part was “edited” by Mauro Giuliani, there is no indication that he participated in its composition.
Contrary to it the Grand Pot-pourri National for guitar and piano, Op. 79, can serve as a model example of collective work. The fact that it is a result of a joint compositional effort is evidenced by the fact that in addition to its existence among Hummel’s output it is known under the same title as Giuliani’s work, Op. 93. The piece was then printed in two versions: first as Giuliani’s Op. 93 (by Tranquillo Mollo, Vienna ca 1818, with a wrong opus number 92, and by Tobias Haslinger in Vienna ca 1833), in which Hummel is mentioned as the arranger of the piano part, and then as Hummel’s Op. 79 (Richault, Paris after 1823) with Hummel and Giuliani listed as the authors, in this order. The oldest date confirming the existence of the work is known thanks to its performance in the Viennese Redoutensaal in May 1817. Paradoxically, Giuliani’s partner at this concert was Ignaz Moscheles, as at that time Hummel was already Kapellmeister in Stuttgart. From the thematic content of the composition we can learn that it is connected to the events of the Congress of Vienna (autumn 1814 – summer 1815), where the representatives of the then European powers assembled. The anthems of the powers (Britain, France, Austria) with variations and dances of several European nations prevail in this piece. The British patriotic song Rule, Britannia! followed by the French anthem Vive Henri IV! (1815–1830) and Haydn’s Die Kaiserhymne for Francis II (later Emperor Francis I) possess an equal status. Dances are elaborated rather generously, too – in addition to distinctly marked Polish polacca, Spanish bolero and Italian tarantella, dance motifs resembling Czech polka and a Hungarian country tune are present there. Hummel’s extensive national pot-pourri evidently mirrors the European ambience towards the end of the period of Napoleonic wars, followed, after the Congress of Vienna, by the 30-year-long period of Metternich’s Europe.
The composition Concertante Duet en Pot-pourri is of a relatively unknown origin. It is a duet arrangement of Hummel’s chamber serenades Op. 63 and Op. 66, which were performed in Schönbrunn Palace during the Congress of Vienna as a tribute to Emperor Francis I. The version for guitar and piano was printed in London (Paine & Hopkins, after 1830) and it could be associated with one of Hummel’s London tours (1830–1833). Today we cannot confirm with certainty that Hummel is the author of the duet. It has no opus number, the terz guitar used in both serenades is replaced with a traditional instrument and cadences and music rich in invention, typical for the composer’s original works, are missing. The duet version presents the themes from the opera Kaiser Hadrian (1807) by Joseph Weigl and ballets Zephir und Flora (1795) by Paul Wranitzky and Abenceragen und Zegres (1806) by Michael Umlauf. Thanks to their previous experience with Hummel’s original opuses, their acoustic character, the original piano texture in peculiar tunes and overall fantasy character of Hummel’s guitar works, the performers of the recording succeeded in rewriting the duet to original keys using the terz guitar, as well as creatively complemented the work with cadences and interludes.
