\section{Marianne Kirchgaessner}

Marianne Kirchgaessner (1769\EnDash{}1808) was born in Bruchsal (in Germany, near its south-west border with France) to Joseph Anton Kirchgaessner and his wife Maria Theresia. The family was devoutly Catholic: Marianne\EmDash{}their fifth daughter\EmDash{}was baptized Maria Anna. Two years later another daughter arrived, Maria Gertrud Sophie, who would be her famous older sister's constant traveling companion in Marianne's last eight years.\footnote{\BrUllrichA, 8\EnDash{}9} (They ultimately had 9 children, including at least one son, to whom Marianne would ultimately pay a last fatal visit.). Both parents were musical: her father was a good cellist and tenor singer, and her mother played piano and dulcimer. 

Little Marianne, just as musically talented as her brothers and sisters, was blinded by smallpox (which caused ulcerations on her corneas) at four years of age. (Mozart at 11 years old also contracted smallpox, and survived essentially unscathed.) Marianne's mother had died a short time before.\footnote{An article in Braunschweig Magazine, April 4, 1801, quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 332ff.} Her now doubly grieving father used all means and spared no expense to cure Marianne\EmDash{}without success.  Marianne nevertheless persisted with her piano playing\EmDash{}without systematic instruction\EmDash{}to a point where Josef Reichsfreiherr von Beroldingen, a local official, heard her play, and was so impressed that he sent her to Joseph Schmittbauer (1718\EnDash{}1809), the Kappelmeister at Karlsruhe, for training, particularly on the \glassarmonica{}. 

Schmittbauer was not only an accomplished armonica player, but could build fine armonicas.\footnote{\BrUllrichA, 9} Beroldingen not only referred Marianne to Schmittbauer, he also provided Marianne with an armonica, which cost at that time the extraordinarily high price of 100 speziesdukaten. (In 1742 Franz von der Trenck stood before the gates of Waldm\"{u}nchen with his Hungarian army, and the city paid him a ransom of 50 speziesdukaten to spare the city.) Marianne studied armonica with Schmittbauer for 10 years with astonishing progress. By then her father (who had just retired with a very modest pension and was thus open to additional income), her sponsors including the Margrave of Karlsruhe, and most of all her teacher Schmittbauer\EmDash{}all felt she was ready for a concert tour that might earn all of them fame and fortune.

At this point Heinrich Bossler (1744\EnDash{}1812) music and newspaper publisher, together with his wife Sophie, took over Marianne's ``management'' and became her family\EmDash{}a business arrangement that blossomed into a lifelong friendship for the remaining 18 years of Marianne's life and career, including the agony of caring for Marianne in her final illness and taking care of her funeral arrangements. Bossler continued to manage his publishing business while on the road with Marianne, and his main office in Spayer continued apparently unchanged.\footnote{\BrSchneiderA, 180}.

1791: \footnote{For the outline of the following timeline I am indebted to \BrSchneiderA, 317ff}  Her almost ten-year concert tour begins in February, with a concerts in Heilbronn\EmDash{}expectations for this concert were so high that people journeyed for 4 or 5 hours to hear her\footnote{Letter of February 1791 quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 321ff} \EmDash{}Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart (all close to her hometown), and then farther afield to Munich, Salzburg and Linz. 

Here is a review of her Linz concert:
\begin{quote}
The famous blind virtuosa Mademoiselle Kirchgaessner gave to Linz in the theater on 24 April a concert on the improved Franklin armonica; her heavenly playing on this extraordinary precious instrument delighted everyone with pure harmony to our ears, utterly exceeding all our expectations; because before this we heard only bare ponderous, melancholy Adagios \footnote{slow pieces} with individual howling tones {no chords?} on the armonica. But this young blind artist treats this instrument completely differently; she plays splendid compositions, on which she can be heard, full-handed with whole harmony, their subtle nuances, the tones wax and wane, her trills on the glasses are inimitable; Allegros \footnote{fast pieces}, which before her yet no artist dared, she plays with an unbelievable talent, full of gentle grace and feeling. She could also be heard accompanied by several instruments, which must be played however extremely quietly.

Excerpt of All European Newspapers. Vienna. Friday the 13. May. 1791. Nr. 109. \footnote{Quoted from \BrSchneiderA, 324}
\end{quote}

At a mere 21 years old she was a sensation, which paved the way to Vienna where she stayed for 5 nearly months. Mozart heard her and was inspired to compose music for her: 

\begin{itemize}
\item	The Adagio and Rondo (K617), a quintet for armonica, flute, oboe, viola, and cello, completed May 23, 1791. Marianne herself announced her premier performance of this `entirely new' piece in the Wiener Zeitung (``Vienna Times'') on August 13:
\begin{quote}
Filled with feelings of the warmest gratitude for the happy applause with which I was honored at the musical concert held by me on 10 June of this year at the I. \& R. National Court Theatre, I deem it my duty to respond with all that lies in my power to the exhortation, so flattering to me, to allow myself to be heard on the armonica once more. I shall therefore, by most gracious I. \& R. permission already obtained, hold another grand musical concert next week, before my departure hence to Berlin, at the I. \& R. K\"{a}rntnertor Theatre, and play on the armonica an entirely new and surpassingly beautiful concert quintet accompanied by wind instruments, by Herr Kapellmeister{a Kapellmeister was a music director for nobility or for a large church. This position always involved supervision and direction of other musicians.} Mozart, as well as new variations on the favorite duet from the Molinaria, ``Nel cor piu non mi sento'', by Herr Kapellmeister Wanhal, and altogether such pleasing pieces as to persuade every connoisseur of music entirely that the armonica is the noblest of all musical instruments, exciting not sad and melancholy, but rather glad, gentle and elevated feelings. The forthcoming poster will give further details.

Marianne Kirchgaessner\footnote{quoted in Deutsch, 399\EmDash{}400
(Note: a misplaced comma by Abert, an early Mozart biographer, has led to the mistaken
notion that Mozart himself played in this concert. Alas, that can't be inferred from
Marianne's announcement. See \BrOttoHatchFallacies{}
}
\end{quote}

Mozart's quintet became one of the most popular pieces of her repertoire. \footnote{\BrUllrichA, 44} 

\item	The Adagio for solo armonica (K356 / K617a). \footnote{K\"{o}chel originally numbered this K356, but subsequent scholarship has shown that this was composed at about the same time as the quintet, hence the change in K\"{o}chel number to K617a. \TODO{???}}

\item	A Fantasia in C (K616a), another quintet for armonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello. Alas, Mozart inconveniently died on December 5\EmDash{}having completed only the first thirteen fragmentary bars of this piece.
\end{itemize}

It is worth noting that Mozart had been acquainted with the armonica from his teenage youth: his first patron was Franz Mesmer, the inventor of 'mesmerism' (in which the armonica played a significant role. We'll be considering his story in more detail shortly). Mesmer owned a particularly large and fine armonica, was himself a capable player, and played his armonica for a 17-year-old Mozart. Wolfgang's father mentioned it in a letter to his wife:

\begin{quote}
Herr von Mesmer, at whose house we lunched on Monday, played to us on Miss Davies's harmonica or glass instrument and played very well. It cost him about fifty ducats and it is very beautifully made.\footnote{Letter from Leopold Mozart to his wife, July 21, 1773; quoted from \BrAndersonA I:341\EnDash{}2}
\end{quote}

A few weeks later Leopold brought up the armonica again, mentioning that Wolfgang himself tried playing Mesmer's instrument:

\begin{quote}
Do you know that Herr von Mesmer plays Miss Davies's harmonica unusually well? He is the only person in Vienna who has learnt it and he possesses a much finer glass instrument than Miss Davies does. Wolfgang too has played upon it. How I should like to have one! \footnote{Letter from Leopold Mozart to his wife, August 12, 1773; quoted from \BrAndersonA{} I:343}
\end{quote}

As we have seen earlier\TODO{???}, Mozart was on friendly terms with Marianne Davies, and thus must have been acquainted with her playing:

\begin{quote}
A few days ago Miss Davies arrived here and drove past our house in the mail coach. I recognized her and she saw us, for we happened to be standing on the balcony. A few hours later I went to call on her at the 'Three Kings', which is not very far off, as I guessed that she would be staying there, since it is the most respectable inn. She, her sister, her father and her mother could hardly express their joy. I told their servant where Herr Hasse was staying and very soon his daughter appeared, who also was beside herself with delight, for they have been most cordial friends since they met in Vienna. They all asked for you at once and they send you their greetings. You will surely remember Miss Davies with her armonica? \footnote{\BrAndersonA{}, 198 \TODO{???}}
\end{quote}

Nevertheless, it wasn't until almost two decades later that a now 35-year-old Mozart was inspired to compose for the armonica. His friend Davies didn't inspire him to get out his all-too-facile pen… his patron Mesmer with the checkbook didn't inspire him either... But Kirchgaessner fired him up! It's difficult not to conclude that Kirchgaessner was simply a vastly superior player to Davies. Also, notice that Leopold says \footnote{in the letter of August 12, 1773} that Mesmer's armonica itself is 'a much finer glass instrument' than Miss Davies's. Thus it may also be the case that German\EmDash{}made armonicas were superior to English ones, which would have given Kirchgaessner a significant advantage. (Talent is helpful too, of course.) 

Altogether Marianne played in Vienna three times that year: June 10 in the castle theater, on August 19 in the K\"{a}rntnertor theater and on September 8 in the Jahn hall in the Himmelpfortgasse. For their concert in the K\"{a}rntnertor theater, which originally already should have taken place on 13 June, wrote Mozart ``the Adagio and Rondo'' in C-moll (K. 617).\footnote{Deutsch TODO{which book?}, 383}

1792:  Concerts including Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin (including four command performances for the king, for which he gave her 100 Friedrichs of gold), Hamburg (which Marianne herself says included ``an armonica quintet by the unforgettable Mozart, which he wrote for me just before his death in Vienna.'') and Magdeburg. \footnote{\BrSchneiderA, 325}
(Marianne Davies dies in 1792.???)

1793:  Concerts mostly close to home in Darmstadt and Bruchsal.

1794: On her way to London, she gives a private performance for Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748\EnDash{}1798), Beethoven's teacher, which he said ``uncommonly agitated me''\footnote{\BrSchneiderA, 326}. Arrives in London in March. Salomon was producing a highly successful concert series for Haydn, and Marianne performed in the sixth and ninth of those concerts\EmDash{}also in March. Here's the program of the sixth concert (which also lists the performer's names), published in the Morning Chronicle, March 15, 1794:

\begin{verse}
Part I:\\
Ouverture, Piehl; \\
Song, Mr. Florio;\\
Concerto Violoncello, Mr. Damen, jun.\\
Aria, Madame Mara;\\
Terzetto, Madame Mara, Mr. Florio, and Mr. Fischer.\\

Part II:\\
Grand Overture (M.S.) Haydn;\\
Aria, Mr. Fischer;\\
Quintetto on the Harmonica, Mademoiselle Kirashgessner[sic],\\
(being her first appearance in this Ceuntry [sic],\\
Cavatina, Madame Mara.\\
Finale\footnote{quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 327}
\end{verse}

Being a concert promoting Haydn's music, it's unclear if the quintet Marianne played was the one Mozart wrote for her, or if Haydn himself wrote another. 

A review of the concert had this to say:

\begin{quote}
The only novelty of the evening worth mentioning was the performance of Mademoiselle Kirch Gessner [sic] on the Harmonica. Her taste is chastened, and the dulcet notes of the instrument would be delightful indeed, were they more powerful and articulate; but that we believe the most perfect execution cannot make them. In a smaller room, and an audience less numerous, the effect must be enchanting. Though the accompaniments were kept very much under, they were still occasionally too loud.\footnote{Morning Chronicle, March 18, 1794, quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 327}
\end{quote}

Notice that the main complaint is that they could barely hear her. Another review said:
Mademoiselle Kirashgessner [sic] performed upon an instrument little known-the Harmonica. It is a conic barrel of glass, which she touches with a truth and feeling so soft, so persuasive, that\EmDash{}'Melancholy marks it for her own.'\footnote{Oracle, March 19, 1794, quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 328}
(Considering that England had just lost the American Revolution, it is understandable that neither review mentioned that Benjamin Franklin invented Marianne's instrument!)

She performed again at Salomon's ninth concert on April 7:
\begin{verse}
Part I\\
New Overture (M.S.) Reichards [J.F.Reichardt],\\
Aria, Mr. Fischer;\\
Concertante for Clarinet and Bassoon, Messr. Hartman and Parkinson.\\
Scena, Madame Mara.\\
Sonata on the harmonica, M. Kirchgaessner\\

Part II.\\
The New Grand Overture, (M.S.) Haydn,\\
which was performed last Monday.\\
Cavatina, Mr. Fischer;\\
Concerto, Violin, Signor Viotti.\\
Rondo, Madame Mara.\\
Finale\\
(Morning Chronicle, April 5, 1794, quoted from \BrSchneiderA, 328)
\end{verse}

At least by this concert they spelled her name correctly! The sonata she played was presumably composed by Haydn\EmDash{}alas it has not survived. Being blind, new music was played for her on the piano, which she then 'played by ear' from memory! Unfortunately this may have resulted in fewer copies being made. A Braille-like system for notating music had been invented for the blind pianist Paradis\EmDash{}a contemporary of Kirchgaessner\EmDash{}but she never adopted it. (We shall meet Paradis in connection with Franz Mesmer a little later on.)\footnote{\BrUllrichA, 17}

In 1794 Fr\"{o}schle (a native-born German) made her a new instrument, which she used from then onwards. This instrument (and Marianne) were reviewed in October 1795:

\begin{quote}
The famous virtuosa on that heavenly instrument, the armonica, Miss Kirchgaessner, will leave England at the earliest opportunity, and, with a reputation which follows her, to pursue her destiny through Hamburg. She has, according to information from Mr. Rath\footnote{apparently 'Rath' is the English equivalent of 'Heinrich'} Bossler, a completely new armonica by Mr. Fr\"{o}schle (one of the first mechanics of London, which if I may say so, is in truth first in his craft) leaving behind all well-known instruments by far, and with good reason it deserves to be called the most perfect musical instrument. Mr. Rath B. looked for the most simple, flexible resonator he could attach, whereby the armonica, especially in the bass, has an uncommon strength so that now the soul\EmDash{}elevating effect of the deep tones affects each listener unbelievably with true charm. With this improvement the instrument, which has a reputation of being gentle, noble in tone\EmDash{}and the delicacy of the inimitable performance of Miss Kirchgaessner still makes abundantly clear its excellent tone\EmDash{}is all the more full and free. Also, in building this splendid instrument, which is worked and inlaid in the most tasteful mahogany, Mr. Fr\"{o}schle has given us a true masterpiece, which truly makes many an honor for him. We congratulate all connoisseurs of music, who have the opportunity to hear this precious and unique instrument under the inspiring fingers of Miss Kirchgaessner.
\footnote{Supplement No. 170 of the Hamburg Impartial Correspondent for October 24, 1795. Trans. by the author, source in \BrSchneiderA, 330}
\end{quote}

While she was in London Dr. Fiedler prescribed eye-drops which improved her vision to the point where she could vaguely distinguish shapes and colors.\footnote{\BrPohlMozartHaydn, II:264, and \BrSchneiderA, 334}

1795:  Two two-hour concerts a day (!!) under the patronage of the duchess of York. Here is the announcement in the (London) Times (May 8, 1795):

\begin{quote}
Under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York.
Miss Kirchgaessner's Performance on the Grand Harmonica, No. 57, Polandstreet, Soho, every day from 1 till 3, and from 7 till 9 o'clock. Admittance 5s. Each person.\EmDash{}Miss Kirchgaessner respectfully begs leave to acquaint the Nobility, Gentry, and her friends, that she means to discontinue her performance on the above instrument after the 14th inst[sic]. She entertains the most flattering hopes that those amateurs, who are sensible of the superiority which this instrument so decidedly maintains above all others, it being so happily calculated to convey to the heart the most heavenly sensations, will within this short period manifest the encouragement which they very kindly conceive the abilities of Miss K. deserve, and that patronage of which she has had the honour of receiving already the most agreeable marks.\footnote{Quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 329}
\end{quote}

These earned Kirchgaessner a small fortune. (At this time solo concerts were not yet common).\footnote{\BrUllrichA, 12}

1796: In November Marianne leaves London for Hamburg, where she gives concerts in November and December.

1797: Goes to Copenhagen, where she gives a concert in May for the Danish king. Performs in  K\"{o}nigsberg, and begins her journey to St. Petersburg. (A daunting journey given road and travel conditions in those days.)

1798:  Stays in Petersburg to mid-year. Concerts in K\"{o}nigsberg in November.

1799:  Concerts in Thorn, Posen, followed by presentations in Schleits, Lausitz and Saxonia

1800: By this point a long list of the eminent composers of her day had composed for her: Clementi, Fasch, Haydn, Hoffmeister, Mozart, Naumann, Salieri, Reichardt and Vanhall\EmDash{}and she knew them all personally! Bossler buys for them a country home in Gohlis (a suburb just north of Leipzig) for herself and the Bosslers, (3700 thalers cash, 2000 thalers in a mortgage) which included meadows, two horses, six dairy cows, sheep, seeds and agricultural equipment.\footnote{\BrSchneiderA, 214} Her almost decade-long concert tour is over\EmDash{}only concerts in relatively close cities from now on, and only in fall and winter\EmDash{}spring and summer were spent at Gohlis.\footnote{AMZ January 18, 1809\TODO{???}}

1801: Concerts in Hanover and Frankfurt. In this year H. Jung writes:
\ldots This modest and virtuous person is easily the greatest master of the heavenly instrument of the English glass armonica\ldots\footnote{quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 335}

1802: Concerts in Stuttgart.

1803: Predominantly at home in Gohlis

1804:  Concert in Leipzig

1805:  Concerts in Berlin and Breslau

1806:  Vienna. Concerts in the Redoutensaale to a full house, as well as other performances, all made precarious by the French occupation of Vienna. The war thwarted her plans to tour Italy.\footnote{\BrUllrichA, 14} In October, at her home in Goelis she had the misfortune to be mistreated by Napolean's soldiers, fresh from their victories at Jena, which ``weakened her constitution and from which she never fully recovered.''\footnote{AMZ January 18, 1809 ???}

1807: Predominantly at home in Gohlis

1808:  Concert in Prague. 
Goethe visits Kirchgaessner, as noted in his diary entries for June 29: ``At 4 o'clock with Ziegesars to Miss Kirchgaessner, who played some on the armonica'', and for July 28, noting of their visit simply ``Kirchgaessner''.\footnote{Goethe's diary entries, quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 339.  Unfortunately no one seems to be able to supply a source reference for the quote ascribed to Goethe that the armonica was the ``Herzblut der Welt'' (``the heart-blood of the world''). See \BrUllrichA, 18}

She gives concerts in Stuttgart in November at the K\"{o}nig von England hotel.  ``The hall, the gallery and the adjoining rooms hardly contained the quantity of listeners.'' \footnote{Morgenblatt f\"{u}r gebildete St\"{a}nde, Nr. 281 of November 23, 1808. Quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 340, trans. by the author}. The program included singers and orchestra:

\begin{verse}
First Part\\
Overture by Cherubini\\
Ballade by Zumsteeg for armonica and voice\\
Large solo for armonica, accompanied by orchestra by A. Reicha \\
Air by Danzi, sung by Miss Long

Second Part\\
Symphony by Haydn\\
Air by Salieri, sung by Mrs. Graf\\
Solo Sonata for Armonica\\
``Johanna's Farewell'', a melodramatic monolog from the romantic tragedy The Virgin of Orleans, by Mr. Von Schiller; narration by Mrs. Gehlhaar, with armonica and orchestra. Music by A. Reicha.\footnote{\BrSchneiderA, 341\EnDash{}344}.
\end{verse}
 
The performance\EmDash{}which turned out to be nearly her last\EmDash{}received the following poetic description on November 23, 1808:

\begin{verse}
What wonderful ringing,\\
Festive, with lofty singing!\\
What full harmony!\\
I float, losing my earthly \\
Shell, already to the nether\\
regions where the Good abide forever?\\
How have I earned, o pious one,\\
Your heavenly welcome?\\
Ha, a strange sunshine radiates from me!\\
Never have I felt such godly\\
Bliss flow over me. I hear\\
Eden's clarity, a joyous choir,\\
Sounds of Hallelujah ring.\\
The Sons of Light give me well-being!\\
Brothers, lead me to the Nameless \\
One So I can cry Thankfulness,\\
Pray praises, sing praises!\\
Ah, the sounds harmonious\EmDash{}\\
They sound\EmDash{}what sweet reverie!\\
Yet still here below must I tarry;\\
After all it is heaven's, and mine the feeling.\\
Thanks be to your magic playing,\\
Muse of the armonica!\\
A younger [St.] Cecilia!\\
O you sounds of the spirit are gradually\\
over everywhere, which is holy,\\
And a human a cherub is. \\
Even would an atheist \\
Call faith from the depths of his heart:\\
God! Immortality! Thou Art!
\footnote{
\begin{verse}
Welche wundervolle Kl\"{a}nge,\\
Festlicher, als Hochges\"{a}nge!\\
Welche Harmonien\EmDash{}F\"{u}lle!\\
Schweb ich, los der Erdenh\"{u}lle,\\
Schon empor zu Regionen.\\
Wo die Guten ewig wohnen?\\
Wie verdien' ich, o ihr Frommen,\\
Euer himmlisches Willkommen?\\
Ha, mir strahlen fremde Sonnen!\\
Nie empundne G\"{o}tterwonnen\\
\"{U}berstr\"{o}men mich.\EmDash{}Ich h\"{o}re\\
Edensharfen, Jubelch\"{o}re,\\
Halleluja rings ert\"{o}nen.\\
Heil mir bey des Licthes S\"{o}hnen!\\
Br"{u}der, f\"{u}hrt ich zu dem Einen\\
Namenlosen, Dank zu weinen,\\
Lob zu beten, Lob zu singen!\EmDash{}\\
Ach!\EmDash{}die Harmonie'n verklingen\EmDash{}\\
Sie verklangen-S\"{u}"ses Tr\"{a}umen!\\
Noch mu\ss{} ich hienieden s\"{a}umen;\\
Doch ist's Himmel, was ich f\"{u}hle,\\
Dank sey deinem Zauberspiele,\\
Muse der Harmonika!\\
J\"{u}ngere Cecilia!\\
O du t\"{o}nst den Geist allmlig\\
Ganz hin\"{u}ber, da\ss{} er selig,\\
Und der Mensch ein Cherub ist.\\
Selbst ein Gottesl\"{a}ugner riefe\\
Gl\"{u}big aus des Herzens Tiefe:\\
Gott! Unsterblichkeit! Du bist!
\end{verse}

Morgenblatt f\"{u}r gebildete St\"{a}nde, Nr. 281 of November 23, 1808. Quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 345, trans. by the author
}
\end{verse}

Now 39 years old, she had just performed in Stuttgart and was determined to see her brother in nearby Odenheim, with whom she had not had contact for seven years. The roads between Stuttgart and Odenheim were less than optimal, particularly in winter. Her manager Bossler wrote:
I had traveled the most of Europe with our dear Marianne, and we came across many dangerous and bad passes and roads in the past; we never overthrew the vehicle and nothing has ever happened to her, but every time we mentioned narrow passes she feared. And I always felt sorry for her whenever we had to pass these narrow roads. Although she was barely able to see her surroundings, as she had sadly lost her eyesight, she always imagined the worst scenario; and although we used to try to convince her that the danger was over, it did not help. So imagine how feared she was on this journey!\footnote{AMZ, Bossler \TODO{, ???}}

Poor roads in winter proved an insufficient impediment: the reunion was accomplished, and as Bossler says: 

\begin{quote}
``Thursday, 24th November the loving sister and brother said good-bye\EmDash{}only too soon find themselves again in a better life!''\TODO{???} 
\end{quote}

On the return trip there were problems with her coach; she was exposed to too much cold, and contracted pneumonia (or something like it.  Medical diagnosis in those days was still very primitive.) Her condition waxed and waned for about a week:

\begin{quote}
Her sister and I believed that she might be suffering from a cold again; she was given painkillers. But all through the night she was agitated and her temperature rose more and more, so on Monday morning we sent for the doctor. 

Dr. Stockar came to see her, and he also believed that she was suffering from a cold. 
I was slightly relieved by the diagnosis, however myself and her sister were worried about our friend being so half hearted about the whole situation. 

In the afternoon the doctor came back and gave us all hope; but the fever continued and she had a very disturbed night from Monday to Tuesday.

She felt slightly better on the Tuesday although towards the evening she complained about pains in her abdomen. Surprisingly the temperature rose so much that she started to rave. I sent for the doctor during the night and begged him to tell me the truth about her condition. He explained that he was really worried about her illness. 

We tried everything possible to rescue our dear ill patient: with permission of Dr. Stockar we also consulted Dr. Wepfer. Both doctors had a long talk and tried everything possible to keep her alive.

Both doctors stayed aside our ill patient all day long; however the illness deteriorated and was still going strong by Wednesday and Thursday night, and she raved even more.
\end{quote}

Alas, her manager and friend Bossler finally wrote:

\begin{quote}
On Friday, 9th of December at approximately 10am we noticed that death was near. All my hopes faded away and so did my consciousness. I was destroyed at the thought to lose her, I loved her like a father, after all she was my travel companion for the past eighteen years, and we shared many happy and also sad moments. 

She was heartbroken whenever she failed to please people. Her fingers\EmDash{}which once created such heavenly music and lifted so many thousands of people into higher regions\EmDash{}turned stiff\EmDash{}all has been robbed by death!\footnote{AMZ, Bossler\TODO{, ???}}
\end{quote}

And later Bossler records:

\begin{quote}
At around four pm the same day Padre Laeuble, confessor at the convent Paradies (which is situated approximately half an hour from Schaffenhausen in Thurgau) came to see us to pray once again with my dying friend. And before she passed away she said a few times clearly: Beautiful! Very beautiful! And she also said Brother *) and Therese **) in a weak voice. 

*) Our dying Kirchgaessner could not know what we found out in Karlsruhe, eight days later, on the 27th of December, on our journey back from Switzerland: her brother, whom she loved so much, had passed away on the 6th of December, three days before her own death. He died from the same illness as our dear friend! It seemed as if\EmDash{}those who have loved each other so much and had never been apart\EmDash{}paid for their trust in each other by dying together!

**) Therese was the name of her older sister who died in Mannheim in 1804.
\end{quote}

In the same necrology, Bossler records Professor Appenzeller who wrote to Professor Mueller the day after Kirchgaessner's death:

\begin{quote}
I can still feel a shiver down my spine when I think back on the news you gave me regarding our dear Kirchgaessner! Perhaps she is with the Lord by now\EmDash{}the only fatherland full of harmony. Her soul will be celebrating; her glance will now greet the light which has always shone in her world. Untroubled harmony now rings in her breast\EmDash{}the spirit of her dreams has now disappeared and she will now have resolved the 'mystery of existence'.\TODO{???}
\end{quote}

Bossler wrote the newspaper announcement of her death (December 29, 1808):

\begin{quote}
With indescribable sadness must I announce to you the death of my dear Kirchgaessner, in Schaffhausen on December 9. In the evening at about 9:30 she passed over to eternity. She is in the earth there, she whose soulful playing charmed so many thousands. Her earthly remains lay in Paradies, a convent, whence the worthy nobles of Schaffhauser in mourning dresses, and myself, in more than 20 coaches, accompanied her to her grave. In all of Schaffhausen neither wagon nor horse were to be had, and many of the first families accompanied us in the terribly cold weather on foot to her final resting place. Miss Stockar and fourteen of the noblest daughters of this city, together with the whole music college with their president in the lead, drove in 7 cars to the convent, in order to give to this artist, as in life, so also in death to give her their respects, and in the convent church, to give a Castrum Doloris \footnote{a traditional decoration of flowers and candles signifying importance} and perform a Requiem. Then Miss Stockar sang a scene from the oratorio Lazarus by Hasse with great dignity, and after a eulogy and all remaining ceremony (and at every altar a Soul's Mass was read), the body returned to the city. The crowding was so great that the hotels had to call the police to keep peace and order. This was the day after her death\EmDash{}thus Saturday December 10. In Schaffhausen Professor M"{u}ller further honored the good Kirchgaessner by placing an extremely precious laurel ring in her coffin, and all, even the first women of the city, came to her viewing. In such a way died my dear good Kirchgaessner, whom for 18 years I saw her art germinate, bloom, and prosper to the highest maturity, and the deadly wounds strike deep into my heart. I will go in a few days from here (Mannheim) to Leipzig, and write a complete biography of the blessed one, in which will be included a fine portrait, and a copper engraving of the Paradies convent.
Bossler
\footnote{Morgenblatt f\"{u}r gebildete St"{a}nde for December 9, 1808, quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 353, trans. by the author}
\end{quote}

An obituary in the Allgemeine Musicalishce Zeitung (The General Musical Times) had this to add about Marianne:

\begin{quote}
As is well known she suffered since childhood from very weak eyesight, and since then, in various years, she was nearly completely blind. Her character was gentle resignation and acceptance of her fate, and only in occasional moments and on special inducements was it disturbed by sickly irritability.\ldots [S]he was free from all artist moods, obliging everyone whom she could please with her talents.\footnote{AMZ January 18, 1809, trans. by the author\TODO{needs a litle more love}}
\end{quote}

Bossler wrote a necrology of Kirchgaessner (which we quoted above) but never completed the promised biography. He suffered from ill health until his own death in 1812, sponsors withdrew from the project, and there were fewer than expected subscribers.\footnote{Bossler's last letter to Professor M\"{u}ller, January 18, 1810, quoted in \BrSchneiderA, 365ff}

Bossler and his wife lived in the country home in Gohlis until 1810 when they sold it (for 6500 thalers\EmDash{}they had paid 5700) and lived off of its proceeds.\footnote{\BrSchneiderA, 220}. Upon Bossler's death in 1812, business and inheritance issues with their children left his wife Sophie in modest conditions, and she died in 1823.\footnote{\BrSchneiderA, 221}

Considering the degree of Kirchgaessner's fame in her day, it is surprising that no drawing or portrait of her has survived, nor as far as we know was one ever made!\footnote{\BrUllrichA, 16} She also never had students, or composed music herself.\footnote{\BrUllrichA, 17}

She had two armonicas: the one Schmittbauer made for her, and the one that Fr\"{o}schle made for her in London\EmDash{}which she was presumably using at the time of her death. The fate of both instruments is unknown.

