Recently Published Chamber Music

The Italian composer ALFREDO d'AMBROSIO (1871-1914) first made his name as a touring violin soloist. Today, if he is remembered at all, it is as a first rate arranger and editor. Ill health forced him to give up his career as a touring soloist and thereafter he concentrated on composing and teaching. He composed a number of operas, but the bulk of his output was violin and piano. However, as a member of a professional string quartet, he also turned his attention to composing chamber music. In addition to his string quartet, he wrote several very charming shorter works for various string ensembles. His EN BADINANT FOR EITHER STRING QUINTET OR SEXTET is a very charming shorter work in the spirit of the best kind of salon music. Lively with memorable melodies and good part writing, it makes an excellent encore which will bring audiences to their feet. And it can also be warmly recommended to amateur groups looking for such a work as it is easy to play.	FRANZ DOPPLER (1821-1883) today is remembered as one of the greatest flute virtuosos of the 19th century. But he was much more than that. Having studied composition with Franz Liszt, he became a top notch orchestrator as well as a composer. He wrote several successful operas and his orchestration of Liszt's Hungarian Rapsodies, published with Liszt's permission, are still used today. If this were not enough, he also served as conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for several years. His compositions with flute were immensely popular and for good reason. One such work, his ANDANTE & RONDO FOR 2 FLUTES AND PIANO OR VIOLIN, FLUTE & PIANO which is filled with lovely melodies and exciting episodes. A winner in the concert hall, it shoudl not be ignored by amateurs who are technically assured players.
JOHANN BAPTIST CRAMER (1771-1858) though he was born in the German city of Mannheim, came with his family to London as child. Other than several extensive trips he made on the continent as a touring piano soloist, he spent the greater part of his life working in London. He was considered one of the best pianists of his day. Virtually all of his compositions were forthe piano in one form or another. His PIANO QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR, is a cross between the styles of Johann Christian Bach and Mozart. It is a lovely work which presents no unsurmountable technical difficulties and as such can certainly be tackled by amateurs.	While he was alive and throughout the first half of the 19th century, the name of FRANZ KROMMER (1759-1831) was routinely mentioned, along with those of Haydn and Mozart, as one of the three most important composers of string quartets from the classical era. (Beethoven being considered a Romantic era composer) Krommer's quartets were sought after by the leading publishers of the day and were immensely popular throughout Europe and even reached the United States. They could regularly be found along side of the quartets of Mozart and Haydn on chamber music programs. His STRING QUARTET IN D MAJOR was a typical example of a work which would appear on those programs but would also have been popular among Vienna's home music making amateur ensembles.
Often called the "Paganini of the Flute", GIULIO BRICCIALDI (1818-1881) was a virtuoso soloist who toured both in Europe and North America. Not surprisingly, most of his compositions included the flute. But his WIND QUINTET NO.1 IN D MAJOR is a shining example of how well he could write for all of the instruments in this kind of ensemble. This is a lively work with good part-writing for all and is full of charm and appealing melodies. Audiences which get to hear this work performed in concert are sure to get pleasure from it. But so will amateurs to whom we also recommend it as it does not make any undue demands on the players.	Trained in Italy, HENRIQUE OSWALD (1852-1931, arguably the most important Brazilian composer of the late 19th & early 20th centuries. His reputation and success spanned both Europe and South America. He composed a considerable amount of first rate chamber music such as his PIANO QUARTET NO.2 IN G MAJOR. Upon hearing it at a performance in Paris declaired it a masterwook composed by a formidable artist. It is a big work in five substantial movements which certainly deserves concert performance and which can tackled by technically assured and experienced amateur players.
Although his compositions were admired and praised by Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss as well as many other critics, the music of HANS PFITZNER (1869-1949, except for one opera, never achieved the popularity or status he wished for and all but disappeared when Hitler came to power even though he was not Jewish. Pfitzner was an opponent of atonalism and the Second Vienna School and this also placed him as out of touch with his contemporaries. His SEXTET FOR CLARINET, VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO & PIANO in no way sounds like the work of an old man in his late 70s who was sick and blind. Genial and upbeat, Pfitzner produced a very appealing chamber music masterpiece just a few years before he passed away. It is a late Romantic era gem which does not sound like it was composed in 1945. This Sextet belongs in the concert hall and with its straight forward thematic material can be recommended to amateurs.	Though not the founder of Lithuanian music, nonetheless JURGIS KARNAVICIUS (1884-1941) was the first Lithuanian composer to write a string quartet. His STRING QUARTET NO.2 IN D MINOR followed four years after his first quartet. Unlike his first quartet which clearly showed the influence of his Russian musical education under Rimsky Korsakov and Glazunov, this quartet finds him combining elements of Impressionism often in a late Romantic era style, creating a very original and interesting effects. One can hear echoes of Lithuanian folk music combined in a very modernistic way. There is good melodic and part-writing throughout, which makes it a good candidate for the concert hall.
The German composer JOHANN CHRISTIAN LOBE (1797-1881) though he composed in virtually every genre, works which were well received and achieved critical acclaim on their premiers, were overshadowed by his writings and treatises on music. His Guide to Musical Composition went through several editions and is still in use today, and his teaching at the Leipzig Conservatory and editorship of the AMZ also made his name. His STRING QUINTET IN A MAJOR though is proof that he did compose appealing and well-written works. This Quintet is not at all difficult to play and would make a very good choice for amateur ensembles looing to present a work in concert.	After Edvard Grieg, CHRISTIAN SINDING (1856-1941) must be counted as Norway's second most well-known composer. Sinding lived most of his life in Germany. His music enjoyed considerable popularity both in Germany and Norway but the fact that a few weeks before his death he was enrolled as a member of the Norwegian Nazi Party led to his music falling into oblivion after WW2. His PIANO TRIO NO.1 IN D MAJOR composed during the last decade of the 19th century was often programed in concert. It is a work full of charm and interesting ideas and deserves to be heard again in concert halls. It can also be recommended to experience amateurs.