Johann Wilhelm Hässler (1747-1822)
Grand Gigue
Sonata Fantasia, Op. 4
Fantasia in C minor
Sonata in D major
Sonate in G major
Sonate 6
Anthony Spiri, piano
To complement the W.F. Bach CD by Anthony Spiri,
it seemed appropriate to call attention to the person
and works of Hässler with another CD release. He enjoyed
great esteem during the 19th century as a successor
to the “Bach tradition”, alongside Friedrich Zelter
and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy; he is certainly of
historical significance, not least as the founder of the
so-called Russian piano school. His piano compositions
and pedagogical works were long a mainstay of
the repertoire. Anthony Spiri introduces some of them
to us here.