Customer Reviews

Twilight of the Romantics: Chamber Music by Walter Rabl & Josef Labor

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There are various ways of framing historic-cultural periods according to the artistic zeitgeist of mutual influence and production. Withal, we unmistakably may discern a fairly clear and sharply drawn period from c. 1890 to 1915. Some cultural historians will push it back as early as c. 1885; and others will cut it off as early as 1910 (or even 1905) depending upon their emphasis of examination of cultural phenomena in various media of music, literature, and the plastic arts. In any case, there can be no question that 1915 marks a firm socio/political/economic demarcation of four years of total war in Europe which virtually severed the continuity of aesthetic development.

And so, we see this very special period of c. 1890-1915 as a kaleidoscopic efflorescence of fragrance, colour, flavour, and texture in high-art of every medium. We sometimes term this period the Fin de Siècle and/or la Belle Époque, and it encompasses the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods in Britain; the Second Reich in Germany; the Third Republic in France; and the Last Tsarist Period of Russia.

In music, we see this as the period of late-Brahms and Bruckner, Mahler, and early-Debussy on one end; and Schönberg, Scriabin, and late-Debussy on the other. Between these artistic giants were a slough of "little" artists which especially multiplied and flourished during this period--(due to rising economic prosperity of the bourgeoisie and proletariat of the time).

This fine disc features rare and exquisite works of musical Art Nouveau (i.e., late-Romanticism) from the apex of the Belle Époque:

Walter Rabl's prize-winning Quartet in Eb for clarinet and piano trio (1896) [:25mins].

Josef Labor's Quintet in D for clarinet and piano quartet (1900) [:35mins].

Get it and rediscover a long-lost past...

See too:
Brahms: Trio in Am; Zemlinsky: Trio in Dm
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (Arranged by Schoenberg)
Debussy: String Quartet; Fauré: String Quartet; Caplet: Conte Fantastique
Songs for Voice & Piano
Anne Sofie von Otter - Love's Twilight (Late Romantic Songs by Berg, Korngold, Strauss)
Berg: Sonata for Piano Op. 1 Schoenber
Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas
Brahms: Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120; Vier ernste Gesänge. Op. 121 (arr. for piano)
Schönberg: STRING QUARTET D MAJOR / STRING QUARTET OP 7
Debussy: 12 Etudes; Berg: Sonate Op. 1
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Orion Ensemble and Cedille Records are to be congratulated for offering two interesting and neglected pieces from the late Romantic period. At least in the case of the Rabl, however, this is NOT a world premiere recording, as Cedille persists in claiming at its website (and see description, above). This well-crafted quartet, by a composer who was a mere twenty-three years old, prefigures the instrumentation famously used in Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps, and also in a quartet by Hindemith (1938). It is enormously engaging, and deserves a secure place in the repertoire. The performance here is adequate, but what appears to be the real world premiere recording (Ensemble Kontraste; Thorofon B00000IFN9, released in 1999) is fresher, more spirited, and more deeply etched. The Kontraste recording is also, I think, better engineered. All that said, I very pleased to own both CDs!