Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806–1856) was an Austro-Hungarian Romantic guitarist and composer born in Pressburg. After moving to Vienna in 1840, he performed as a soloist and toured Moravia, Poland, Russia, and Germany. Mertz married pianist Josephine Plantin in 1842, whose influence led his compositions to follow the pianistic models of Liszt, Chopin, and Schumann. He utilized guitars with extended range, including ten-string instruments. His publications include Ungarische Vaterlands-Blüthen (1840) and Nachtviolen (1840), along with the collection Bardenklänge (1847). He also composed a trilogy of technically demanding fantasias: “La rimembranza”, “Pensée fugitive”, and “Harmonie du soir”. In 1846, Mertz survived a strychnine overdose. Shortly before his death in Vienna on October 14, 1856, he won first prize in a guitar composition competition in Brussels.
