Kreisler, Fritz. (1875–1962). Caprice Viennois - SIGNED. New York: Carl Fischer. Signed sheet music from the beloved American violinist and composer of Austrian birth who was one of the most important musicians of the last century. Kreisler’s graceful and ever-popular Caprice Viennois, arranged here for piano solo, boldly inscribed and signed “Fritz Kreisler” across the front cover of the music, followed by the year 1938. Upright folio. 9 1/8 x 12 inches (23 x 30.5 cm). 7 pp. [PN] 18712-5. Light toning, overall fine. Signed sheet music of Kreisler is considerably less common than signed photographs. This is only one of a few examples we've encountered.
No less of a figure than the late Joseph Silverstein, the longtime concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, declared that the Caprice Viennois was the hardest of all of Fritz Kreisler’s “bonbons” to play, for the seemingly-effortless music is devilishly difficult to pull off! As Blair Johnston (All Music Guide) goes on to note, “The piece is a caprice in the real sense of the word, shifting musical perspective at a moments notice to afford violinists the opportunity to indulge in some new trick — like the false harmonics and the strangely aristocratic downward glissando of the opening quasi-cadenza passage, or to invite the listeners to join in enjoying a warm melody… all the while bursting forward and holding back, rhapsodically and mock-improvisationally (or, with the liberties that Kreisler himself invariably took with his music, truly improvisationally), with that amazing rhythmic elasticity that Kreisler alone was really able to bring to his music.”
Kreisler, Fritz. (1875–1962). Caprice Viennois - SIGNED. New York: Carl Fischer. Signed sheet music from the beloved American violinist and composer of Austrian birth who was one of the most important musicians of the last century. Kreisler’s graceful and ever-popular Caprice Viennois, arranged here for piano solo, boldly inscribed and signed “Fritz Kreisler” across the front cover of the music, followed by the year 1938. Upright folio. 9 1/8 x 12 inches (23 x 30.5 cm). 7 pp. [PN] 18712-5. Light toning, overall fine. Signed sheet music of Kreisler is considerably less common than signed photographs. This is only one of a few examples we've encountered.
No less of a figure than the late Joseph Silverstein, the longtime concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, declared that the Caprice Viennois was the hardest of all of Fritz Kreisler’s “bonbons” to play, for the seemingly-effortless music is devilishly difficult to pull off! As Blair Johnston (All Music Guide) goes on to note, “The piece is a caprice in the real sense of the word, shifting musical perspective at a moments notice to afford violinists the opportunity to indulge in some new trick — like the false harmonics and the strangely aristocratic downward glissando of the opening quasi-cadenza passage, or to invite the listeners to join in enjoying a warm melody… all the while bursting forward and holding back, rhapsodically and mock-improvisationally (or, with the liberties that Kreisler himself invariably took with his music, truly improvisationally), with that amazing rhythmic elasticity that Kreisler alone was really able to bring to his music.”