The big news from this recording resides in what is apparently the premiere recording of Hugo Stähle's Piano Quartet in A major, Op. 1. Before his death at age 22, Stähle, a student of Louis Spohr, managed to complete an opera, a symphony, and two song cycles in addition to the present work. It's well worth checking out, and it's intriguing enough to make listeners want to hear the rest of his slender output. Stähle died in 1848, so it seems less than likely that he knew the music of Schubert. Yet that is who comes to mind ...
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The big news from this recording resides in what is apparently the premiere recording of Hugo Stähle's Piano Quartet in A major, Op. 1. Before his death at age 22, Stähle, a student of Louis Spohr, managed to complete an opera, a symphony, and two song cycles in addition to the present work. It's well worth checking out, and it's intriguing enough to make listeners want to hear the rest of his slender output. Stähle died in 1848, so it seems less than likely that he knew the music of Schubert. Yet that is who comes to mind when hearing the combination of melodic effusion, dramatic scope, and daring long-range contrast. The unexpected outburst at the end of the slow movement is especially reminiscent of the slow movement of Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, D. 929, and the entire work is smoothly executed with moments that stick in your head long after hearing them. Schubert might have made a better pairing than the rather diffuse Piano Quartet in D major, Op. 23, by the young Dvorák, a work...
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