When I discovered the sheet music for this Serenade for pianoforte, flute and viola by Johann Joseph Rösler in an antiquarian bookshop many years ago, I could never have imagined that I would one day be able to publish this beautiful work in a new edition. The sheet music lay in my cupboard all this time until it was finally performed for the first time in 2021 with my Trio Lobkowitz Wien. We were immediately impressed by the varied and charming serenade ("Ständchen", "Abendmusik"); as a composer, Rösler draws on the style of Viennese Classicism and the Mannheim School. Rösler's operas and songs have often been translated into three languages: Czech, Italian and German. He gained renown not only as a composer of stage works, but also as a virtuoso pianist and chamber musician. The fact that his Piano Concerto in D op.15 was attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven for more than 100 years also speaks volumes about his quality as a composer.
As there is very little literature from this period in this rare trio instrumentation of flute, viola and piano, we are all the more pleased to enrich the repertoire with the publication of this serenade. We also owe the idea of our trio name, Trio Lobkowitz Wien, to Rösler, as he was in the service of Prince Lobkowitz in Vienna:
Maitre de Chapelle de S.A.S. Le Prince Regnant de Lobkowitz
And that brings us to the life of the composer J. J. Rösler.
Johann Joseph Rössler was born on 22 August 1771 in Schemnitz (Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia). He received his first musical training from his father. As the young Rösler later devoted himself entirely to music against his parents' wishes and had to support himself, he remained self-taught. He attended grammar school in Prague and then studied philosophy. As early as 1797, he was appointed "piano master" (according to Dlabacž) in the Prague opera orchestra at the Estates Theatre. In 1805, he briefly went to the court theatre in Vienna as Kapellmeister. In 1809, his opera "Elisene", which premiered in Prague in 1807 to great acclaim, was performed in Vienna for the first time. In Vienna, Rösler became acquainted with Prince Lobkowitz and joined him in July 1805 as the third Kapellmeister in the princely Lobkowitz chapel in Vienna and Raudnitz. Rösler worked as a piano virtuoso and it is assumed that he conducted his patron's musical events in Vienna and Raudnitz. He returned to Prague in 1809, but retained his Kapellmeister's salary until 1811, when excessive exertion caused a serious illness and a haemorrhage, to which he succumbed in Prague on 28 January 1813 at the age of 42.
We have strictly adhered to the original edition (engravings) in this new edition and hope you enjoy playing this serenade.
Wally Hase
Vienna, April 2024
