The province of touring virtuosos in eighteenth century, the guitar remained popular into the Romantic era even as the increasing weight put on the creative act devalued its modest sound. The title of the booklet of this delightful little disc labels the contents as "chamber music with guitar from the Biedermeier period," the interwar 1815-1848 period in Central Europe that saw a flowering of domestic middle-class elegance. The composers here are all but forgotten today, but each was well known at the time and was a ...
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The province of touring virtuosos in eighteenth century, the guitar remained popular into the Romantic era even as the increasing weight put on the creative act devalued its modest sound. The title of the booklet of this delightful little disc labels the contents as "chamber music with guitar from the Biedermeier period," the interwar 1815-1848 period in Central Europe that saw a flowering of domestic middle-class elegance. The composers here are all but forgotten today, but each was well known at the time and was a craftsman counterpart to the furniture makers for whom the era is best remembered. Three of the four works look back to the "night music" genres of the Classical era, with only the Trio, Op. 16, of Joseph Kreutzer (not the Rodolphe Kreutzer to whom Beethoven's violin sonata was dedicated) as an exception. These are light pieces, but they solve the problems they set for themselves. Most ingenious is the Notturno in E flat major by Wenzeslaus Matiegka, for the unlikely combination of...
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