From Easter to Christmas – The Church Year in the Music of Fanny Hensel. Sh. Prushansky, Fortepiano

Sharon Prushansky performs works by Fanny Hensel and Theodor Fröhlich. Recorded at Schloss Weißenbrunn in November 2025, on the original fortepiano by Conrad Graf (Vienna, 1824), from Schloss Weißenbrunn Collection ___________ This recording is part of the Schloss Weißenbrunn Foundation’s Artist in Residence Programme dedicated to Fanny Hensel on historical instruments. Video: Culiner Creative Circle Graphic: Elisabeth Hau ___________ More about the instrument collection: https://schloss-weissenbrunn.de/en/mu... More about the residencies: https://schloss-weissenbrunn.de/en/mu... ___________ 00:00 Fanny Hensel, Ostersonate (1828), Allegro assai moderato 05:13 Largo e molto espressivo – Poco più mosso 09:40 Scherzo. Allegretto 15:05 Allegro con strepito (“Christe, du Lamm Gottes”) 22:55 Theodor Fröhlich, Quasi Fantasia, “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden”, from »Sechs Elegien«, op. 15 (1833) 30:37 Fanny Hensel, November, from »Das Jahr« (1841) 35:35 Fanny Hensel, Dezember, (»Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her «), from »Das Jahr« 39:47 Fanny Hensel, Nachspiel, "Das alte Jahr vergangen ist «. from »Das Jahr« ___________ This program presents the fortepiano works of Fanny Hensel (1805–1847) and her Swiss contemporary Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich (1803–1836) in the context of their fascination with early music, and more specifically with church music, as demonstrated by their choice to engage with chorale-based compositions. It also explores the ways in which each of them incorporated the influences of their musical predecessors in a language that is both thoroughly Romantic and deeply personal. At the heart of the program is Hensel’s Ostersonate (1828), a work that was lost for nearly 150 years, rediscovered in 1970, and then misattributed to her brother Felix Mendelssohn. Musicological research carried out in 2010 established Hensel’s authorship of the piece. The sonata, inspired by the story of the Passion of Christ, brings together lyrical beauty and powerful drama. It features colorful programmatic motives, as well as genres associated with the Baroque period, such as the fugue and chorale fantasy on the Passiontide chorale “Christe, du Lamm Gottes”. The program also includes pieces from Hensel’s monumental piano cycle das Jahr (1841), in which she also engaged with the chorale prelude genre, finding inspiration in early music but creating a personal style that is deeply rooted in Romanticism. In addition to Hensel’s music, the program includes the Elegie op. 15 no. 6, “Quasi Fantasia”, by Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich. This elegy is composed as a chorale fantasy on another celebrated Passiontide chorale, “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden”. Like Hensel, Fröhlich studied composition in Berlin with Carl Friedrich Zelter, and was also a great admirer of the music of J. S. Bach. Despite his short life – Fröhlich died by suicide aged only 33 – his creative output is astounding, with over 700 compositions.