Brahms: Four-Hand Piano Music, Vol. 12
Naxos

Brahms: Four-Hand Piano Music, Vol. 12

$13.99
$19.99 Save 30%

In stock - typically processed within 24-48 hours

Spend $60 or more and shipping's on us!

Details

Composer
BRAHMS
Artist
Silke-Thora, Christian, Matthies, Köhn
Format
CD
Discs
1
Label
Naxos
Released
Sep 21, 2004
Catalog #
8554412
UPC
636943441220

About

Like Mozart's, the two string quintets of Brahms are scored for two violins, two violas and cello. The choice is characteristic. The register of the violas and the richness of texture that such an instrumentation can impart, whether in chamber music or in orchestral writing, was very typical of Brahms, and reflected in his music for the piano. He had first attempted the form in 1862, using two cellos, as Schubert had done, but had destroyed it, replacing it first with an arrangement for two pianos, and later, in a final version, as a piano quintet. Brahms had intended his String Quintet in G major, Op. 111, as his last chamber music composition. He wrote it in the summer of 1890 at Bad Ischl, following his usual custom of composing during summer holidays spent away from the city. It was, in the event, to be followed by four further compositions, the Clarinet Trio, the Clarinet Quintet, and two Clarinet Sonatas, the last also known in an effectively autumnal version for viola, an instrument offered in the other works as an alternative to the clarinet. The G major Quintet was first performed in Vienna on 11th November in the year of it's composition. It starts with a movement derived from sketches for a fifth symphony, allowing the cello an orchestrally conceived first subject. For the second subject Brahms turns to Vienna for inspiration. There is a shift to B flat major in the central development, further modulation leading to the return of the original key and thematic material in recapitulation. The D minor slow movement allows free variations on the opening material, until the theme returns in a simpler form, originally played by the first viola. The third movement opens in a melancholy G minor, the feeling dispelled by a G major trio section, which has the last word, after the re-appearance of the G minor material. The quintet ends with a Vivace ma non troppo presto, a rondo that finds a place for much else that is thoroughly Austrian or Austro-Hungarian in mood, ending in an energetic Hungarian czárdás.

Tracklist 8 tracks

  1. 1 Allegro non troppo, ma con brio 14:03
    Track
    1
    Title
    Allegro non troppo, ma con brio
    Duration
    14:03
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies
  2. 2 Adagio 08:09
    Track
    2
    Title
    Adagio
    Duration
    08:09
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies
  3. 3 Un poco allegretto 05:53
    Track
    3
    Title
    Un poco allegretto
    Duration
    05:53
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies
  4. 4 Vivace ma non troppo presto 04:51
    Track
    4
    Title
    Vivace ma non troppo presto
    Duration
    04:51
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies
  5. 5 Allegro 14:47
    Track
    5
    Title
    Allegro
    Duration
    14:47
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies
  6. 6 Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo 08:30
    Track
    6
    Title
    Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo
    Duration
    08:30
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies
  7. 7 Andante con moto 10:06
    Track
    7
    Title
    Andante con moto
    Duration
    10:06
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies
  8. 8 Rondo alla zingarese: Presto 08:57
    Track
    8
    Title
    Rondo alla zingarese: Presto
    Duration
    08:57
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Christian Köhn, Silke-Thora Matthies