This album was recorded in June 2025 at Konzerthaus Abtei Marienmünster, with Werner Dabringhaus as producer and Holger Schlegel as recording engineer.
Composer Biography
Frank Martin, born in Geneva in 1890, was the tenth and youngest child of a pastor and grew up surrounded by the sounds of his parents playing piano and his siblings practicing Schumann, Mozart, and Chopin.
Composer Biography
Frank Martin considered hearing Bach's St. Matthew Passion as a schoolboy to be a life-changing event, and later had a similar revelation upon being introduced to Debussy's Fêtes by conductor Ernest Ansermet.
Performer Biography
The Utrecht String Quartet dedicates itself to saving composers from unjust oblivion, creating projects and CD productions of lesser-known works by composers like Mossolov, Bosmans, Sweelinck, and Britten.
Instruments
Pianist Ilona Timchenko performs on a Steinway Concert Grand Piano D, specifically instrument #100398 from 1901, known as 'Manfred Bürki'.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Frank Martin, in his search for a unique musical voice, explored Arnold Schönberg's twelve-tone system but adapted it to retain tonality, believing music without tonality would be like architecture ignoring gravity.
Performer Biography
Ilona Timchenko, the pianist on this album, was the first to publicly perform Shostakovich's complete 24 Preludes and Fugues in Italy and is a staunch defender of contemporary music.
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Dialogue
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Mahler, Glazunov & Franck: Works for Piano Quintet & String Quartet
DNA
Wilhelm Berger: Clarinet Trio op. 94, Cello Sonata op. 28 & Scherzo for Cello and Piano
Peteris Vasks: Songs of My Heart
Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio / Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht
