[François] Arnaud, “Des Improvisateurs”
Arnaud mentions that Karsch’s best work flows from spontaneous inspiration, and is not composed deliberately and thoughtfully.
Tag: Karsch
François Arnaud, “Ode à des alouettes prises dans des filets”
Arnaud relates Anna Louisa Karsch’s extraordinary ability for poetic improvisation to the Greek conception of poetic excellence. After this follows her extemporized ode to larks caught in nets.
François Arnaud, “Friedrich der Beschützer und Liebenswürdige, besungen den 24 jenner 1759, von Anna-Louise Karschin. Frederic le Défenseur & l’Aimable; chanté le 24 janvier 1759, par Anne Louise Karschin.”
Prefacing a French translation of a German ode extemporized by Karsch, Arnaud notes that Karsch’s poetic talent reminds him of Plato’s and Aristotle’s theories of poetry and enthusiasm. He distinguishes Karsch from other improvisers of poetry by her ability to deliver powerful performances without music.
Friederike Brun, Tagebuch über Rom
Brun relates that she witnessed a performance by Bandettini, noting that many of the subjects upon which she extemporized did not suit her femininity. Brun suggests that Bandettini would be much more pleasing were she more cultivated, and compares her to Anna Louisa Karsch, the “German Sappho.”
J. B. A. Suard, Mélanges de Littérature
Reprinted from a literary journal that Suard co-edited in the 1760s, this comprehensive essay surveys forms of the word “improviser” in French and other languages, the nature of poetic improvisation and its history in Italy, and exponents of improvisation elsewhere in Europe. Foremost among these is Anna-Louisa Karsch, of whom the essay includes a brief biography.
Johann Wilhelm von Archenholtz, England und Italien
Archenholtz writes disparagingly of Corilla’s coronation as an abasement of poetry in general; Corilla’s talent cannot be compared with that of the superior German poet Anna Louisa Karsch. Archenholtz describes an impressive open-air by an unnamed Venetian improviser, one of many he witnessed while in Italy, but in general he considers Italian poetic improvisation far inferior to the spontaneous rhetorical skill displayed by English gentlemen.