Klussmann: Piano Quintet E Minor, Op. 1 / String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7

Featuring

Péter Nagy
Jana Kuss
Oliver Wille
William Coleman
Mikayel Hakhnazaryan
Kuss Quartett

Ernst Gernot Klussmann

Did you know?

1/7

Historical Context

Klussmann joined the Nazi party in 1933, a decision he later claimed was strategic to protect his family from harassment by colleagues at the Cologne Music School.

Composer Biography

Klussmann was dismissed from his directorship in 1945 due to his Nazi party membership but was reinstated in 1948 after being classified as a 'fellow traveler' (Mitläufer).

Performer Biography

The Kuss Quartet, the ensemble performing on this album, was the first German string quartet to receive the legendary 'Paganini Quartet' of Stradivari instruments on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation in 2019.

Compositional Technique

From the mid-1950s, Klussmann began incorporating dodecaphony (twelve-tone technique) into his compositions, seeing it as a compositional decision that aligned with his contrapuntal thinking.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Klussmann explicitly used his own music as proof that his aesthetic ideas did not align with the National Socialists, citing negative reviews and his strong connection to Gustav Mahler.

Composition History

This album features the first-ever recording of compositions by Ernst Gernot Klussmann, whose important works have remained unpublished and unpremiered.

Composer Biography

Ernst Gernot Klussmann was a prominent figure in Hamburg's musical life from the 1940s until his death in 1975, but his artistic work has been largely neglected.