Carl Cannabich (1771-1806): 14 Variations on  'A Schüsserl und a Reindl'

World Première Recording
Theme (Andante): 00:00 Variation 1: 00_45 Var. 2: 2:05 Var.3: 3:02
Var. 4: 4:05 Var. 5-6: 5:07 Var. 7: 6:54 Var. 8: 7:32 Var. 9: 8:52
Var. 10: 10:11 Var. 11: 11:25 Var. 12: 12:45 Var. 13: 14:02 Var. 14: 17:21
Carl August Konrad Cannabich was born on October 11, 1771 in Mannheim, Germany. He was the son of Christian Cannabich, “Court Music Director”, and one of the best-known composers of the “Mannheimer Schule”. Carl’s grandfather was Court Musician Martin Friedrich Cannabich; one of Carl’s sisters was a pianist, another, a singer. Carl married Josephine Woraleck, a soprano and daughter of composer Nicklas Woraleck. Thus it would seem that Carl was surrounded by musicians throughout his life. On 1778, he and his family moved to Munich. He was already learning piano and violin at the tender age of four; at age 9, he continued his violin studies with Johann Friedrich Eck. Later, he studied composition with Peter von Winter and Joseph Graetz. When he was 12, Carl, together with Ludwig August Legrun, began a “concert tour” of Europe. The year 1785 saw young Carl in Italy, where he spent two years indulging in advanced musical study. Upon his return, he acquired employment as violinist on the Court Orchestra in Munich. In 1796, he began working as ”Theaterkapellmeister” in Frankfurt; in that city, he met his future wife. In 1800, he was ordered back to Munich, as he had been selected to be “Court Music Director” there. He traveled to Paris in 1805; upon his return, he fell ill with “Nerve Fever” - a now-antiquated designation for typhus – and died soon thereafter.
The present set of “14 variations” are based on a folk song popular around 1800:  'A Schüsserl und a Reindl' (Austrian dialect for “A dish and a pot”). The variations themselves are, I find, quite amazing. Cannabich was obviously a keyboard virtuoso, as many of the pieces are technically difficult. They show both great imagination, and a thorough knowledge of what “works” on a keyboard. The title page says they are meant for piano, yet they work well on the harpsichord also, and though that instrument had largely “lost out “ to the piano at the time these variations were created (which was around the year 1800, I would guess), it was still present in some musical households.
David Bolton, “The Digital Harpsichordist”
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