Gerard Schurmann celebrates his 93rd birthday (earlier this year) with this third Toccata Classics album of his chamber music. Schurmann was born in the former...

Gerard Schurmann celebrates his 93rd birthday (earlier this year) with this third Toccata Classics album of his chamber music. Schurmann was born in the former Dutch East Indies in 1924, became a naturalized Briton (making a name for himself as a composer of film music while his lived in Britain) and is now a resident of Los Angeles. His two piano quartets, downstream from Bartok, Shostakovich and Britten, present a wide range of moods, from broad and stately tempi to passages of driving energy and excitement. He was in his mid-seventies when he wrote Piano Quartet No. 2 but it buzzes with youthful vigor. Their quasi-symphonic ambit is contrasted with the tart miniatures of the Serenade for solo violin and the tail-chasing vivacity of Two Violins - written only in 2015. The musicians on this release are mostly based in the Los Angeles area. The Lyris Quartet, founded in 2008, has premiered the music of many living composers. This is the group's second recording for Toccata Classics.