“The Formosa Quartet plays with exquisite definition … technical brilliance and much charm.” –Classic FM

Friedrich Gernsheim was a late-Romantic German composer and pedagogue whom his friend Johannes Brahms acknowledged as a master composer. His wonderful music – highly respected in its day – fell into undeserved obscurity, due in part to the fact that he was Jewish. His music (along with that of many other Jewish composers) was thus banned during the Nazi era as “Entartete Kunst” (degenerate art), leaving it to succeeding generations to rediscover.

Gernsheim’s prolific, multi-genre output includes a remarkable body of chamber music, of which the Piano Quintet No. 2 is a shining example. Pairing it here with Brahms’ immortal Piano Quintet in F Minor enables the attentive listener to compare the two composers’ kindred late-romantic voices while savoring Gernsheim’s unique facility that Brahms so admired.

Joining the Formosa Quartet – one of the nest ensembles of its kind – is distinguished pianist Reiko Uchida; together, they deliver this rich music with precision, spirit and passion.

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Track List:

    Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916): Piano Quintet No. 2 in B Minor, Op. 63

  1. I Molto moderato
  2. II Adagio
  3. III Allegretto molto grazioso e sempre scherzando
  4. IV Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo presto

    5. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34

  5. I Allegro non troppo
  6. II Andante, un poco adagio
  7. III Scherzo: Allegro
  8. IV Finale: Poco sostenuto, Allegro non troppo (Presto, non troppo)