Nocturne No 3
Johann Kaspar Mertz
Johann Kaspar Mertz was born in 1806 in Pressburg, Bohemia. His parents were very poor, so as a 12 year old he gave guitar and flute lessons to earn some money. In 1840 he took off to Vienna to attempt a concert career. He made several tours, even far in Russia, initially on his own and later together with his wife Josefine, who was a concert pianist. After a serious illness he died in 1856 in Vienna.
Mertz' music is often virtuoso with specific dazzling effects. His style of composition was more pianistic than guitaristic.
One of Johann Kaspar Mertz's famous contemporaries was the Polish pianist and composer Frederic Chopin, who brought the free musical form Nocturne to a very high level.
Certainly Mertz was acquainted with this form. His wife Josefine was a concert pianist who might have taken a shot a Chopin's work. I guess that's why this nocturne, a rather free form of "song with accompaniment" sounds quite pianistic at times. After a romantic start with some free form runs, the piece gets some more (Vivace) tempo.