Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) was a Hungarian guitarist and composer. He lived and worked in Vienna, which had been home to various prominent figures of the guitar, including Diabelli and Giuliani. Mertz's compositions, unlike that of most of his contemporaries, followed the pianistic models of Chopin, Schubert and Schumann. On this recording, Raphaëlla Smits performs the grand fantasias Harmonie du soir and Le Romantique, alongside several other works, including Mertz's transcriptions of six Schubert Lieder. Smits plays two historic French instruments as well as an eight-stringed guitar by John Gilbert.