HEINRICH VON HERZOGENBERG (1843-1900): String Trios in A and in F, Op. 27, Legends for Cello and Piano, Op. 62, Piano Quartet in E Minor, Op. 75, Piano Quartet in B Flat, Op. 95.

Description: Another valuable release for fans of this composer who was condemned in his time as a "Brahms epigone". Listening to the 1982 piano quartet, written after the long final illness and death of his 44-year-old wife, bleeding with emotion, heartrending in its expression of love and sense of loss, you might think that you've just found a lost Brahms chamber work. So: what's wrong with that? Needless to say, all of these works will make you think first of Brahms (since they all date from after 1876, when the composer formally abandoned the New German school of Liszt and Wagner) and then of what fine music they are and how unjustly attacked Herzogenberg was. The second disc, containing the later (1897) piano quartet, the Legends and the second string trio, was in our October 2000 catalogue. 2 CDs. Mid-price. Andreas Fröhlich (piano), Belcanto Strings. Opp. 62, 95 & 27/2 originally released in 2000.