The original title of the work by Franz Zwerger is: “Tonmärchen: eine sorgfältig gewählte Sammlung gemüthlicher aufheiternder Stücke für zwei Guitarren” (“Fairytales of sound, a carefully selected collection of cozy uplifting pieces for two guitars”). The collection was published in Augsburg by the editor Anton Böhm, around the 1860’s. During that time, the city of Augsburg was home to two important figures of the guitar scene in the south of Germany and Austria: Adam Darr (1811-1866) and Otto Hammerer (1834-1905), who later initiated the guitar club, that would become the famous “Gitarristische Vereinigung”. Some decades later in Augsburg, Hammerer, thanks to his love for guitar and his financial capabilities as factory owner, had initiated his own smaller club, dedicated to the publication of works for the guitar - “Freie Vereinigung zur Förderung guter Guitarremusik”. In the time of the publication of the Tonmärchen, according to Hammerer’s article on Darr in the club journal “Guitarrefreund”, both men must have met regularly for guitar lessons. The collection of Franz Zwerger is exactly what they could have used during the lessons. The Tonmärchen are an example of what a contemporary work for beginners could have looked like in the romantic period, and how, through delightful sounding pieces, the instrumental skills were developed at the time. In that sense Zwerger’s “Tonmärchen” stand in line with the duos by Küffner, or the many well-known Italian classical guitarists, such as Carcassi, Carulli, Giuliani etc. The fact that Zwerger, who is relatively unknown as guitarist or composer, was able to publish these pieces at a time where many great virtuosos of the instrument struggled, shows us there must have been a wider market at the aficionado level. The only trace of another piece by Franz Zwerger is with the same publishing house and goes by the name of Erheiterungen: für geübtere Guitarre-Spieler (Exhilarations: for proficient guitar players).
A clever and relatively new idea for guitar works in the middle of the 19th century, are the innovative and well sounding names of the editions, that are more memorable than any e.g. “Study Op.1”. Another factor, is the famous collection of fairytales by the brothers Grimm, published between 1812-1858. They achieved such success, that stories like Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood are still part of the upbringing of many children today. Letting the guitar pieces touch with maybe the most renowned stories of the German speaking world, generates a high level of accessibility and identification in potential clients.
The Tonmärchen are grouped in six parts, the current editions hold parts one and two. The first guitar is a Terzgitarre, which means the capo should be moved to the third fret on a modern Torres-size guitar in standard tuning. For better overview and due to the shortness of the works, we decided to notate the music in one score, rather than two parts (like in Zwerger’s original). These pieces will work well with guitar students at an early level, that are looking for new and enchanting romantic guitar duos.
