Rare Chamber Music, Vol. 1 (2010)

The booklet notes for this audiophile release focus on the fact that much of this "rare chamber music" got to be that way because of Nazi suppression; all of the composers represented except for the Swiss Rudolf Moser ran afoul of the National Socialists, and Ernst Bachrich and Erwin Schulhoff died in concentration camps. This is a useful perspective, for it is only after many decades that the music submerged by the Nazi tide is coming to light. Yet these pieces are rare for another reason as well: the genre of the string ... Read More

The booklet notes for this audiophile release focus on the fact that much of this "rare chamber music" got to be that way because of Nazi suppression; all of the composers represented except for the Swiss Rudolf Moser ran afoul of the National Socialists, and Ernst Bachrich and Erwin Schulhoff died in concentration camps. This is a useful perspective, for it is only after many decades that the music submerged by the Nazi tide is coming to light. Yet these pieces are rare for another reason as well: the genre of the string duo, popular enough to have occasioned pieces by these quite varied composers, is an interesting but largely vanished one. The details of the composers' biographies are not really audible in the music, but the role string chamber music played in familiarizing audiences with modern styles is very much on display. None of this music was groundbreaking, but all of it was meant to be played by informed amateurs, and all of it elegantly boils new developments down to the duo format. The... Read Less