Vogler’s Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard

The following articles are extracted from the album booklet of Vogler: Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard, available on CD and Streaming 18 April 2025 via Leaf Music Distribution and Nacos.

In connection with the Carl Theodor Jubilee Year in 2024, this album includes never-before-recorded solo keyboard music by the composer, Georg Joseph Vogler (1749–1814), an important Kapellmeister in Carl Theodor’s court. A prominent figure within the Mannheim School, Georg Joseph Vogler stood out as an innovative composer, music theorist, influential teacher, and accomplished keyboard performer (organ, harpsichord, fortepiano, clavichord) in his era. Seemingly, Mozart was jealous of Vogler’s success, and due to Mozart’s disdain for him documented in his letters, Vogler's reputation suffered posthumously, hindering modern interest in Vogler's music. Consequently, modern interest in his compositions is limited, and few are performed or recorded nowadays. Nevertheless, this overlooked music deserves a revival, and this project offers audiences a unique chance to rediscover these forgotten pieces, adding a novel dimension to the recording. This project is supported by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Forschungszentrum HOF | MUSIK | STADT.

Track Listing

Georg Joseph Vogler (1749–1814): Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard

Pièces de clavecin (Stockholm, 1798)
1 Pastorale
2 Barcarolle de Venise
3 Romance africaine
4 Phantasie tracée sur Cheu Teu. Air chinois
5 Min far han var en Vestgöthe han han. Chanson suedoise
6 Pente chordium
7 Ak minan rakas linduisen. Air finois
8 Höns gummans visa. Chanson suedoise
9 Air barbaresque
10 Polonaise
11 Marche de Charles XII auprès du Narvae
12 Air russe
13 Marche des Chevaliers de l’Ordre des Seraphims en Suéde
14 Quarndansen. Danse suedois

Variations sur líAir de Marlborough (1791)
15 Tema (Semplice e variato). Larghetto
16 Variation 1. Allegro
17 Variation 2
18 Variation 3. Menuetto grazioso
19 Variation 4. Allegro
20 Variation 5
21 Variation 6. Larghetto
22 Variation 7. Allegro
23Variation 8
24 Variation 9. Minore. Larghetto
25 Variation 10
26 Variation 11. Allegro molto
27 Fuga. Prestissimo - Larghetto - Allegro - Larghetto

Souvenirs of a “Lebensreise”

Georg Joseph Vogler (1749–1814)
Music for the keyboard

*Above: Portrait of Vogler depicted during 1786–92 by Carl Frederik von Breda.*

“Lebensreise:” (journey through life) is a biographical description that could hardly be applied to anyone but that of Georg Joseph, known as Abt or Abbé Vogler. Although he was repeatedly employed at various courts, he never spent more than a few months in one place; he was always travelling, literally criss-crossing Europe.

Vogler was born in Würzburg in 1749 and entered the service of the Elector Carl Theodor of the Palatinate in 1772. He travelled to Italy in 1775 and 1776 with an electoral scholarship and was briefly taught by Padre Martini in Milan and then by Francesco Antonio Valotti in Bologna. In 1776, after returning to Mannheim, the Elector appointed him deputy music director. It was at this time in late 1777 when he met with Mozart. When the court moved to Munich in 1778, Vogler initially remained in Mannheim, but then set out at the end of December 1780 on a trip to Paris and London that lasted several years. Music from this trip is the subject of a previous album release by Anders Muskens: Vogler à la chambre de Marie Antoinette (2023).

In 1786, the Swedish king Gustav III appointed him music director in Stockholm, but this did not quell his wanderlust. Later, in December 1787, Vogler embarked on another journey for several years, which initially took him to the Baltic States and St. Petersburg in 1788. In the spring of 1789, he stayed in Danzig and Warsaw, travelling on to the Netherlands via Hanover, Magdeburg and Bückeburg. Arriving in August, he remained there until March 1790. Vogler spent 1792–93 in southern Spain and North Africa, but afterwards, the following years were spent mainly in Stockholm.

In May 1800, Vogler took his leave of Sweden and travelled first to Copenhagen, and in July 1800 he returned to Germany and spent half a year stationed in Berlin. In the spring of 1801, he continued on to Prague via Halle, Leipzig and Dresden. For the summer of 1802, he spent several months in Silesia, and in December, he finally made his way to Vienna, where his opera Samori premièred in May 1804.

In the summer of 1805, Vogler left Vienna for Munich, and while at the seat of Bavaria, he seems to have made a serious attempt to settle permanently. His presence coincided with the elevation of Bavaria to a kingdom by Napoleon’s grace. This connection with France was cemented by the marriage of Princess Augusta of Bavaria to Napoleon’s stepson, Eugéne de Beauharnais. Vogler took a lively interest in the events and composed, among other things, a series of ‘patriotic folk songs.’ In 1807, Grand Duke Ludewig I of Hesse-Darmstadt summoned the much-travelled composer to his residence, but Vogler continued to pursue further ambitious projects in Munich and Vienna. Eventually, though, his journeys came to an end. On the morning of 6 May 1814, Vogler suffered a stroke in Darmstadt and was buried the following day in a private ceremony.

Vogler had been working on a project he called Polymelos (Greek poly for many; melos for melody, tune) since 1789. That year, he published the collection “Polymelos, or Characteristic National Music of Various Peoples, an Original and Unusual Collection of Folk Songs and Dances” (Polymelos I) through the publishing house of Philipp Heinrich Bossler in Speyer. He had already organised organ concerts under this title while in the Netherlands.

Back in 1762–63, the Scotsman James Macpherson (1736–1796) published his Songs of Ossian as alleged ancient Gaelic songs and epics from Celtic mythology. Spurred on by widespread interest in the aesthetics of the sublime, these poems and other folk song collections attracted a great deal of interest in Germany and encouraged the study of the folk song idiom. Johann Gottfried Herder, who was influenced by Macpherson’s works, collected folk songs and they were eventually published posthumously in his Stimmen der Völker in Liedern (1804). Vogler’s interest in “characteristic national songs” should be understood in this context of intellectual history.

While in Stockholm in 1795, Vogler published a multi-volume piano method in Swedish: the Clavér-schola. The Pièces de Clavecin (1798), which contains numerous adaptations of songs and dances from different regions of the world, was published as a volume of sheet music to accompany it. The title “Pièces de Clavecin” may appear quaint, recalling an old French genre of collected harpsichord suites and character pieces, reflecting the French influence at the Swedish royal court. However, beneath this facade lies a modern pianistic idiom, clearly intended for the emerging fortepiano rather than harpsichord. Full of stylistic diversity, these pieces also are ordered for pedagogical guidance. The pieces increase in complexity, introducing various styles, genres, expressive devices, pianistic textures, and later on, extended keyboard techniques like tremolos and double and triple trills. Vogler’s aim to unite technical, theoretical, and aesthetic aspects of musical training is evident in the carefully selected pieces.

*Above: View of Stockholm from the Fersen Terrace with the Palace Makalos. Painting by Elias Martin*

*Cover page of the Pièces de Clavecin. Stockholm: l’Imprimerie de Musique Privilegiée du Roy*

Some of these Vogler took from the first edition of Polymelos in 1789; other pieces from the Pièces were themes for Vogler’s organ improvisations, which had made him famous since the mid-1780s: the Pastorale in D major, for example, is the theme of one of his most well-known improvisations, the Hirtenwonne (Shepherd’s Delight), interrupted by a thunderstorm. In a sense, the Pièces de Clavecin are Vogler’s musical scrapbook of Lebensreise he had taken up to that point.

In 1806, Vogler returned to the idea of the polymelos in Munich, organised more concerts and published further works under this heading (Polymelos II). He also did this with the newly established Kingdom of Bavaria in mind, for which Vogler created “national music.” “If music is one of the most important branches of national education, it is also the one that is able to maintain and constantly revive the forces of the national spirit,” reads an 1806 report about Vogler’s concerts in the Munich Königlich-Baierische Staats-Zeitung.

Vogler was probably one of the first to leave Europe to study a different musical culture. He spent most of the period from August 1792 to July 1793 in Cadiz and Gibraltar, but also visited Tangier on the African continent. His stated aim was to track down traces of antiquity that could still be detected in the archaic music of North Africa. His trip to Africa, therefore, made him a pioneer of ethnomusicology, even though, strictly speaking, his question was not ethnomusicographic but rather historical.

Vogler, on the other hand, never set foot on the Asian continent, although he had intended to do so. In 1805, Tsar Alexander I sent a large delegation under the leadership of Count Yuri Alexandrovich Golovkin to Beijing for a trip to the imperial court. Vogler wanted to join this delegation, which also included military officers, officials and scientists. However, his efforts failed, as did the trip as a whole. The Chinese imperial court demanded a kowtow, a prostration before the emperor, as part of the ceremony in Beijing. The head of the mission refused to agree to this gesture of submission in accordance with protocol, and the expedition had to be broken off in the Mongolian capital Urga (Ulan Bator) before the delegation had even reached China.

The use of non-European music makes Vogler’s collections special cases in their time and makes them appear extraordinarily modern. The Phantaisie tracée sur Cheu: Teu: Air Chinois was already included in the first Polymelos collection of 1789. The following is reported about the origin of this Air Chinois:

The Emperor of China sent Chinese music to London for the automata that he had made in London and that were supposed to play various instruments. The Minister of War gave them to Hr. Abt, who found only these six bars worthy of adaptation.

The truth of this statement cannot be verified. However, the melody can be found together with another one in William Ouseley’s The Oriental Collections from 1797. Ouseley comments on its origin:

The two Chinese airs [...] were communicated to the editor, with others, by Eyles Irwin, Esq. Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and one of the gentlemen on the late embassy to China.

The Pièces de Clavecin include two “African” pieces: the Romance Africaine and the Air Barbaresque, which the composer later included in the second Polymelos collection. Vogler later reported on the origin of these compositions with some temporal distance:

Fourteen years ago, I left Europe and sailed to Africa to acquire, among other things, an idea of Arabic music and to examine the ruins of the once magnificent Carthage, which was so marvelous in terms of musical education, which was led by the virtuosos streaming in from Greece. The current emperor of all Morocco, who at that time ruled only over northern Africa, gave me, in addition to his very humane protection, a music master for service and accompaniment. This brown companion played the 4-string guitar, the violin, which had 2 strings of horsehair, and sang. [...] This music master really taught me countless melodies, some of which I retained by heart and some of which I wrote down. I published two of them in my Polymelos with variations and also played another one (called the Terrace Song) on the organ. I had taken a clavichord with me across the sea, and often played for him. He marveled at the dexterity of my fingers, but felt nothing at all about my harmony.

*First edition printing of the “Air barbaresque”*

The reception of a African songs or a Chinese melody testifies to Vogler’s aesthetic appreciation and recognition of various non-European musical traditions. The flip side of such a reception is, of course, a certain exoticism and ethnocentrism inherent in the European gaze on such a repertoire, based on the colonial world view of the eighteenth century. Such a perspective often comes with a certain degree of distortion in Vogler’s rendition and representation of non-European cultures. However, Vogler’s documentation of these melodies provides us today with valuable insights into historical musical traditions that might otherwise have been lost or overlooked. In reviving this repertoire, it is important to see and understand Vogler’s efforts within the constraints of his time, and to celebrate above all the great artistic curiosity and experimentation in his exploration of national themes – while acknowledging the problematic historical context of the colonial period.

Vogler was well-regarded for his intricate, complex variation sets for keyboard, which he often improvised in dazzling public concerts on organ and fortepiano. Many of the works in the Pièces de clavecin are in fact presented in variation format. Vogler himself wrote in 1793 that variations are “a type of musical rhetoric, where the given meaning appears in different guises, with the distinction that the boundary lines are much more rigorously determined in music than in oratory.”

Tema (Semplice e variato). Larghetto from the Malbrough variations

Only a few years after Polymelos I, Vogler’s Variations sur l’air de Malborough s’en va-t-en guerre was published by Bossler. The song “Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre” refers to the alleged death of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Malborough (1650–1722) in the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709. The circumstances of its origin are as unknown as the text and the composer of the melody. The first verse reads:

Malbrough s’en va en guerre
Mironton, mironton, mirontaine
Malbrough s’en va en guerre
Ne sait quand reviendra
Malbrough goes to war
Mironton, mironton, mirontaine
Malbrough goes to war
Doesn’t know when he’ll return

The song became extremely popular in France after 1780. Vogler may have become familiar with it during his stay in Paris from 1780 to 1783. Numerous composers used the melody, including Ludwig van Beethoven in his programmatic orchestral work Wellington’s Victory or the Battle at Vittoria, op. 91, in 1813. Vogler’s variations were published for keyboard instruments alone as well as in a version with orchestra.

The Speyer-based journal Musikalische Korrespondenz der teutschen Philharmonischen Gesellschaft, published by the Teutonic Philharmonic Society, dedicated a long and enthusiastic review to Vogler’s cycle, which could possibly have been written by the composer himself:

In our opinion, of all the works that Mr. Vogler has published for the piano since he began writing for it, none deserves more attention and that would recommend itself to the musical public, both in terms of taste and art, more than the work presented here. It is no exaggeration to claim that no piano variations have appeared in public print for many decades that could be compared to this one and recommended as a model even to older and more experienced composers. On every page, one recognizes the deep thinker, the man who is so familiar with all the secrets of his art and for whom it is just as easy to present a simple theme, which perhaps some might not consider capable of a paraphrase, sometimes in the charming guise of a grace, as in the third variation, and sometimes in a solemn fugue, as in the last one.

Vogler does indeed take unconventional paths with his variations. The presentation of the theme is unusual in itself. Usually it is presented at the beginning in its pure form, but in Vogler’s work, the exposition already contains a variation. The highlight of the cycle is the concluding fugue, in which a Larghetto section in F# major is incorporated. The reviewer was very enthusiastic: “I hope Mr Vogler will soon treat us to more such hearty fare!” Vogler’s variations showcase a degree of ingenuity, technical demands, and complexity that rivals and may even surpass some of Mozart and even Beethoven’s most celebrated variation sets.

Dr. Rüdiger Thomsen-Fürst
Forschungszentrum Hof | Musik | Stadt
©2025 Rüdiger Thomsen-Fürst

The Choice of Instruments

*Above: The Longman & Broderip Square piano used in the recording*

Vogler’s travels coincided with rapid developments in keyboard instruments. While the harpsichord and clavichord were still widely in use during this period, the more modern fortepiano in all its variations had gained much ground. Between 1780 and 1800, fortepiano building experienced significant developments, leading to distinct national schools of construction, particularly the English and German/Viennese types. Many builders across Europe experimented with innovative designs, including different types of action mechanics, hand stops, pedals, and case constructions. There was no standardization until the nineteenth century.

In the domain of the grand pianoforte, or wing shaped instruments, English builders, such as Broadwood, produced robust, heavier instruments with a fuller, powerful tone suited for larger concert spaces, while Viennese builders, including Stein and Walter, crafted lighter-actioned, more delicate instruments renowned for their nuanced clarity and agility. Smaller instruments, like square pianos, were favoured in domestic salons, providing intimacy suited to private gatherings, whereas grand pianos found their place in larger concert halls, projecting a more extroverted, “virtuosity” in sound, and could play against larger groups of instruments in chamber music and orchestral settings. Choosing an appropriate keyboard instrument for this recording thus became a careful task, requiring not only consideration of its technical capabilities—its ability to articulate clearly, sustain, and respond to certain quick passages and repeated tones—but also careful alignment with the intended character and expressive intimacy or boldness of a specific musical work. As Vogler travelled extensively, he was undoubtedly familiar with the diverse array of keyboard instruments available during this period; nevertheless, specific technical demands, such as rapid tremolo passages called for in many of the Pièces de clavecin, would have favoured certain instrument mechanisms over others.

This album features two original English fortepianos from the collection of Anders Muskens: a Longman & Broderip square piano built in London in 1788 and restored by Paul Kobald in Amsterdam in 2018, and a grand piano by John Broadwood & Sons built in London in 1806 and restored by Paul Kobald in Amsterdam in 2022.

Longman & Broderip was a distinguished music firm, known for its publications and instruments during the eighteenth century. Haydn purchased one of their grand pianos in 1794–95, but they were also known as a première builder of square pianos, which became sought-after choices for domestic settings. The instrument featured on this recording incorporates the patent-action of 1787 by John Geib, an innovator who worked for the Longman & Broderip firm. As an evolution of the older English single action design popularized by Johannes Zumpe, Geib’s patent introduced crucial enhancements to the piano’s mechanism, significantly improving ease of playability and dynamic control. His “grasshopper” mechanical action became so influential that by the early nineteenth century, it was widely adopted by square piano makers throughout the United Kingdom and abroad. The instrument featured in this recording has a small 5 octave compass, and 3 hand stops, including a divided-damper lift and a delicate harp stop. One pedal allows the front section of the lid to open and close, acting as a lid-swell that gives further dynamic and timbral possibilities, which are put to good use in many of the Pièces.

*Above: The Broadwood grand piano from 1806 used in the recording*

John Broadwood & Sons emerged as one of England’s most prestigious and innovative piano manufacturers during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The firm, taken over from Burkat Shudi which originally built harpsichords, was renowned for developing and refining both square and grand pianos, the latter of which gained international recognition for their powerful sound, reliability, and refined craftsmanship. Broadwood’s instruments were used by composers such as Haydn and Beethoven. The particular grand piano used in this recording is triple-strung, as was common for English grand pianos already in the late 1770’s. This model also includes 3 pedals: a divided damper lift, and an una corda pedal.

English pianos were common during the Gustavian era in Sweden. Starting in the 1770s, English square pianos were imported regularly to Stockholm, and became established as models of excellence and taste. Prominent local Swedish instrument builders of the period, including Pehr Lindholm, Mattias Petter Kraft, Pehr Lundborg, Henric Johan Söderström, George Christoffer Rackwitz, Göran Garman, Lorentz Mollenberg, and Johan Söderberg, were largely based on the standardized English designs. The close connections between English and Swedish builders resulted in a shared stylistic and technical language evident in surviving instruments. English fortepianos, particularly those made by Longman & Broderip and Broadwood, are thus especially suitable choices for performing music published in Stockholm during the 1790s. These instruments authentically reflect the sonic ideals, stylistic nuances, and mechanical characteristics familiar to Vogler and the Swedish audience of his pedagogical publications.

The rationale behind the specific choice of instrument for each piece, however, was twofold: firstly, technical, and secondly, aesthetic. Certain instrument mechanics responded better to certain technical challenges Vogler wrote into his works. Furthermore, my selection also considered the physical spaces and contexts for performances of keyboard music employed in the 1790s: domestic salons, typically smaller and acoustically intimate, enhanced the delicate charming timbre of the square piano, making it ideal for private performances among small groups of listeners: for instance, Vogler and his pupils. Works like the “Pastorale,” favoured a more intimate character, suitable for the fragile charm of the square piano. Furthermore, the smaller, faster hammers of the square piano responded effectively for the works which required tremolo and drumming effects, like “Höns gummans visa. Chanson suedoise.”

In contrast, the grand piano complemented the virtuosic style and dramatic character often preferred in public performance contexts: for example, Vogler’s dazzling public performances of variations. Public concert spaces were larger, accommodating a greater audience and requiring instruments capable of producing a more powerful, resonant, and penetrating sound. Some of Vogler’s pieces are impressive showpieces of technical fireworks and virtuosity, favouring the grand. For example, the Broadwood grand felt suitable for the more showy, concerto-like pieces, like the “Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough,” the grandiose “Marche des Chevaliers de l’Ordre des Seraphims en Suéde,” and playful “Quarndansen. Danse suedoise.” Thus, incorporating multiple instruments in a recording effectively captures the varied sonic and expressive dimensions inherent in both intimate salon performances and larger-scale public concerts of the period: both spaces which Vogler would have constantly frequented in his musical activities in Stockholm and throughout his extensive travels.

Anders Muskens

Acknowledgements and Sponsors

Recording Details

Instruments

Square Pianoforte by Longman & Broderip (John Geib), London 1788.
5-octave compass FF-f3, 3 hand stops: divided damper lift and harp stop; 1 pedal: lid swell. Bichordal stringing
Restored by Paul Kobald in 2018

Grand pianoforte by John Broadwood & Sons, London 1806.
5 1/2-octave compass FF-c4, 3 pedals: divided damper lift and una corda. Trichordal stringing
Restored by Paul Kobald in 2022.

Tuning and Temperaments

A=422–28, depending on climatic conditions.
Anders Muskens tuned and tempered the instruments using the method described by Vogler in his
Gründliche Anleitung zum Clavierstimmen (1807).

Production & Acknowledgments

Jakub Klimeš (producer and audio engineer)
Recorded at the Pfleghofsaal at the Musicology Institute of the University of Tübingen
Supported by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Forschungszentrum HOF | MUSIK | STADT

Album photography: Eduardus Lee (portraits of Muskens), and Anders Muskens (instruments and Frankenthal porcelain)

Digitally released by Leaf Music Distribution.