Big Ben Phonogram

Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Pianokvintetter nr 1 & 2

Tracklisting

Piano Quintet No. 1 in C minor (22'33)
1. I. Allegro molto. Scherzo (Poco allegretto). Molto allegro
2. II. Adagio quasi andante
3. III. Allegro assai e con spirito

Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major (28'22)
4. I. Allegro con gusto
5. II. Allegro vivace
6. III. Poco Andante con grazie
7. IV. Allegro molto

Recording Date: September 1973
Recording Location:
Sofiensaa, Viennal, Austria
Produced by: Christopher Raeburn
Balance Engineer: Philip Wade
Format: ADD Stereo

Recording Information

Berwald was a Swedish composer. His music, which is highly original in its use of rhythm, harmony, and orchestration, had little popular success. Best known for his four surviving symphonies, he also wrote several concertos, chamber works, and operas.

Piano quintet No. 1 in C minor is dated December 1853 and was dedicated to his pupil, the talented young pianist Hilda Thegerström (1838-1907).

Piano quintet No. 2 in A major was finished in July 1857 and duly dedicated to Lizt who wrote to Berwald in February 1858 from Weimar, praising the work.

The New York Times
Piano quintets by Franz Berwald in C minor and A will introduce many listeners to a Swedish composer who was born a year before Schubert but lived until 1868 - a decade past the premiere of ''Tristan und Isolde.'' Like Charles Ives, Berwald turned to business later in life, and these two pieces - played by the Wiener Philharmoniker Quintet - coincide with his commercial career during the 1850's. The C minor Quintet evokes an immediate and uncomfortable feeling that in Berwald's case posterity might have misspoken. This is music exquisitely original and very moving. The other quintet lapses more often into dozing regularity, but there is enough substance in both pieces here to turn listener curiosity into real satisfaction. The playing. moreover, is deft and attentive.
Bernard Holland, Published: Sunday, June 26, 1988

For more information about Berwald, visit Wikipedia, click here