Piano Music: October 2008 Archives

Joseph Marx
(1882-1964)

Six Pieces for Piano (1916)
Herbst-Legende (Adagio)
Carneval (Nachtstück)
Die Flur der Engel

Tonya Lemoh, piano
Chandos CHAN10479 54:38

Most of this CD is taken up with the Six Pieces. If you've investigated any of Marx's other works – e.g., the orchestral songs, concertos, and string quartets are reviewed here at Classical Net – the style here is essentially similar, with recollections of Rachmaninov's and Scriabin's piano music to the fore. A very useful resource is the Joseph Marx web site with a wealth of information including a discography, recording projects, and a great deal else.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)

String Sextet #1 in B Flat Major, Op. 18 (1860)
String Sextet #2 in G Major, Op. 36 (1865)

Silke-Thora Matthies & Christian Köhn, piano four-hands
Naxos 8.554817 74:35

This is Volume 13 of the Naxos series of releases of Brahms' arrangements for either piano four-hands or for two pianos. So far the traversal has covered many of his works including the symphonies, the concertos, the chamber music for four or more players, and the German Requiem, and a few works by other composers, notably Schumann's Piano Quintet. All are performed by these two fine players: there are 17 CDs in all, of which this is a representative sample.

There are some music lovers who find arrangements of any kind something to avoid, usually citing the composer's intentions. The difference in this case is that the arrangements are by the composer, for the usual reason, to make them accessible to a wider audience. Hearing these familiar works in this guise points up details not always noticed from the originals and refreshes one's interest in the works generally. The whole series is very recommendable indeed.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]