Insofar as it can be said to have one, the purpose of this disc is to make the name Anton Diabelli mean more than merely the fellow who had the foresight to get Schubert's publishing rights and who once hired Beethoven to write a set of variations on his own innocuous waltz theme. For those willing to venture into nearly unknown repertoire, this disc will give new meaning to Diabelli's name; to wit, Diabelli was, in addition to being a canny publisher, a canny composer -- the works on this disc are ideally aimed at the ...
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Insofar as it can be said to have one, the purpose of this disc is to make the name Anton Diabelli mean more than merely the fellow who had the foresight to get Schubert's publishing rights and who once hired Beethoven to write a set of variations on his own innocuous waltz theme. For those willing to venture into nearly unknown repertoire, this disc will give new meaning to Diabelli's name; to wit, Diabelli was, in addition to being a canny publisher, a canny composer -- the works on this disc are ideally aimed at the burgeoning market in domestic music-making in early nineteenth century Europe and were fabulously successful in their time. Performed here by an ensemble called the Salzburger Hofmusik -- the name is taken from the prince-archbishops chapel in Salzburg -- Diabelli's music proves to be full of catchy tunes and infectious rhythms with the added advantage of being easy enough for amateurs to play. The pieces on this disc are scored for one or two pianos (Hammerflügels in this case), guitar,...
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