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Mstation Classical Reviews


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Mon, 04 Jul 2005

von Weber, Chamber Music

Carl Maria von Weber, Piano Quartet
Trio for flute, cello and piano
Quintet for clarinet and strings
The Gaudier Ensemble

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) lived in exciting times, both musically and otherwise -- Beethoven ... the French Revolution, Napoleon. Of his three hundred and eight compositions recognised by FW Jahns only three were chamber music (and none were string quartets) and it is these three pieces that are on this CD.

This is music of the Romantic era to its core and von Weber was very interested in the Romantic explorations of timbre and harmony as well as with virtuoso playing. Remember that, technically, a virtuoso is not a once in a lifetime genius, but rather an extremely good player.

For those that don't particularly like the huge orchestral pomposities that the Romantics so loved, chamber music is a way of appreciating the musical points of the movement in a slimmed-down, more intimate way.

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