Presents
Alessandro Longo
Piano Quintet in E Major, Op.3
"Alessandro Longo's Piano Quintet in E Major dates from 1897. The opening movement, Allegro deciso is quite fresh with its appealing lyrical melodies. The development section shows the influence of Mendelssohn. The second movement, Andante, is sweet and full of feeling, with an especially striking section where the strings play alone. The main theme to the Scherzo, which comes next, brings to mind Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, and yet, it is original sounding, with the viola given a prominent role. The trio section is rather like a lullaby. The whole movement is quite well done. The bustling finale, Allegro con fuoco, is in parts almost orchestral." ---the well-known chamber music critic Wilhelm Altmann writing in his Handbook for Piano Quintet Players.
Alessandro Longo (1864–1945) was born in the Italian town of Amantea. He studied piano and composition at the Naples Conservatory obtaining a diploma in performance. He subsequently taught at the Conservatory eventually rising to Professor of Piano. Additionally he had a career as a performer, espcially taking part in chamber music ensembles as the Ferni Quartet and Quartetto Napoletano which in no small part explains why we have a piano quintet from his pen. Today, he is remembered as the cataloger of the works Domenico Scarlatti, which are identified by Longo numbers just as those of Mozart are know by their Koechl number or Schubert's their Deutsch number. Besides his piano quintet, he wrote several suites for various instruments and piano.
Long out of print, we are pleased to make this masterwork available once again and hope that professionals and amateurs will seek it out.
Parts: $39.95
