Recommendation required for a high quality chamber work.

[Dave2002]

I rather like Ernst Mielck's string quintet in F. Finnish composer (1877-1899).

[Stanfordian]

How about Bruno Walter's piano and violin sonata (1st performed 1909)?

Hiya notnerb,

I 'll look out for that. Talking about conductor/composers I had considered selecting Furtwangler's Violin Sonata No.2 in D major (1938-39) who like Bruno Walter was also Berlin born.

[Stanfordian]

Enescu: Dixtuor, opus 14 (1906)?

Hiya Pulcinella, I have considered the Dixtuor but prefer his 2 String Quartets and Octet.

[Stanfordian]

Beat me to Enescu - a good Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet within your period

Hiya Pianoman. Yes I like the Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet. I may play them again. A work from Enescu is certainly in the running.

[Stanfordian]

What you need is Schmidt, not Schmitt! Try any of the three:

Quintet for Clarinet, Piano and Strings in Bflat
Quintet for Piano, Clarinet and Strings in A
Quintet for Piano and Strings in G

Probably one of the first two would be best - try the slow movements. All three works were written for piano, left hand, but are often played (two of them, at least) in Wuhrer's arrangement for both hands.

Very tuneful, and far too little known.

Franz Schmidt (1874-1939) (Born in Pozsony (known in German as Pressburg), in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (the city is now Bratislava, capital of Slovakia).

Hiya Don,

Yes, I know the name Franz Schmidt but I have checked my collection and have none of his works but will investigate. Thanks very much for the heads-up.

[Stanfordian]

I rather like Ernst Mielck's string quintet in F. Finnish composer (1877-1899).

Hiya Dave, Ernst Mielck's string quintet I'll check it out. Many thanks for the suggestion but we are straying away from Germany and Central Europe now.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I second the nomination of the Dohnanyi sextet. We had it in our local (Truro Three Arts) chamber series and I had to write a programme note after a liitle study of Naxos recording. Certainly a cracking work, live and as recorded!

How about the Zemlinsky string quartets as v good Germanic even if not exactly German works from the right period?

[richardfinegold]

He did say "lesser kinown or unjustly neglected" and I don't think that any of the above, fine as they are, could reasonably be described thus and the Shostakovich is slightly outside the prescribed 1890-1940 timeframe in any case..

The first off the cuff suggestions that occur to me would be Schmitt's Piano Quintet, Skalkottas's Fourth String Quartet, Bush (Alan)'s Dialectic for string quartet, Reger's Clarinet Quintet. Marx's Sonata for violin and piano and Medtner's three Sonatas for violin and piano, possibly along with his Piano Quintet which, although completed only in 1949, was begun in 1904! (I don't know how much of it was written when).

I believe that Shostakovich's Piano Quintet dates from the late 1930s.
I also disagree about the Chamber works of RVW or Frank Bridge; they are not at all that well known outside of the U.K.

[richardfinegold]

Erwin Schulhoff Violin Sonata #1 or String Quartet #1.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

How about the Zemlinsky string quartets as v good Germanic even if not exactly German works from the right period?

NOW yoer talkin'!

Try a "guess the composer" with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALrC1OaIpSc

... then, for the real fare:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLEZgCA1ZlU

[Stanfordian]

I second the nomination of the Dohnanyi sextet. We had it in our local (Truro Three Arts) chamber series and I had to write a programme note after a liitle study of Naxos recording. Certainly a cracking work, live and as recorded!

How about the Zemlinsky string quartets as v good Germanic even if not exactly German works from the right period?

Hiya LeMartinPecheur, Thank you for that. I've played the Dohnanyi Sextet earlier on this evening and it's a very fine work; better than I remembered it. I have the Zemlinsky string quartets on order.

[Stanfordian]

I believe that Shostakovich's Piano Quintet dates from the late 1930s.
I also disagree about the Chamber works of RVW or Frank Bridge; they are not at all that well known outside of the U.K.

Hiya richardfinegold, Many thanks. I love all those works you mention the Shostakovich, RVW and Frank Bridge but they are outside the German/central european constraints that I've given myself.

[Stanfordian]

Erwin Schulhoff Violin Sonata #1 or String Quartet #1.

Hi richardfinegold, Thanks. Yes, I have those Schulhoff works under consideration and his other works for string quartet.

[Barbirollians]

Zarebski's Piano Quintet - recently recorded on Hyperion but also by Argerich and pals at Lugano .

[Dave2002]

Finland no good, eh!

I think some of Korngold's early chamber works at least fit into the parameters. The Doric Quartet have made recordings of the quartets.
His piano quintet dates from around 1920, while his Op 10 String quintet was performed in 1917. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Wolfgang_Korngold Although he later went on to write film music, which he admitted probably saved his life, he started off as a classical composer, and in his final years he was still writing music in classical genres for concert performances.