The Karlsruhe-based Josef Schelb (1894-1977) is one of the better-kept secrets of twentieth-century German music. His output was substantial: he lost most of his early...

The Karlsruhe-based Josef Schelb (1894-1977) is one of the better-kept secrets of twentieth-century German music. His output was substantial: he lost most of his early music in a bombing raid in 1942, but - as if to make up for lost time - wrote some 150 more works after that. These four, for clarinet in various chamber combinations, who his music emerging from the influence of Hindemith and Berg. They have a freewheeling energy, contrapuntal command and rhythmic charge of its own - often animated by a touch of devilish humor. Two of these works receive their first recordings here. The Busch Kollegium Karlsruhe was founded in 2013 to record a first album of chamber music for clarinet and strings by Adolf Busch, released in October 2013 by Toccata Classics.