The Mendelssohn Octet on this album was recorded in May 1988 at All Saints' Church, Petersham, UK, while the Franck Piano Quintet was recorded in January 1988 at Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, UK.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mendelssohn intended his Octet to be played in a 'symphonic orchestral style,' with pianos and fortes more strongly emphasized than usual for chamber pieces.
Composition History
César Franck's Piano Quintet in F minor was composed between 1878 and 1879 and dedicated to the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.
Compositional Technique
César Franck, the composer of the Piano Quintet, was a devotee of cyclic architecture, a technique he used with confidence in this work.
Composer Biography
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, one of the composers on this album, was considered a child prodigy, with Goethe comparing his abilities to a grown-up's cultivated talk.
Composition History
Mendelssohn's Octet in E flat major, Op. 20, was composed as a birthday present for his friend and violin teacher Eduard Rietz in October 1825.
Compositional Technique
The Scherzo movement of Mendelssohn's Octet was an attempt to evoke a scene from Goethe's Faust, depicting 'Floating clouds and trailing mist'.
