Early Romantic Piano Quartets by Hummel, Ries & Schubert Van Swieten Society, Heleen Hulst, Elisabeth Smalt, Mátyás Virág, Bart van Oort

• Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 - 1837): Piano Quartet in G Major, Op. Posth. 4:
• 1 Hummel: Piano Quartet in G Major, Op. Posth. 4: I. Andante Cantabile 05:52
• 2 Hummel: Piano Quartet in G Major, Op. Posth. 4: II. Allegro Con Spirito 11:43
• Ferdinand Ries (1784 - 1838): Piano Quartet in F Minor, Op. 13:
• 3 Ries: Piano Quartet in F Minor, Op. 13: I. Adagio 12:23
• 4 Ries: Piano Quartet in F Minor, Op. 13: II. Andantino 04:38
• 5 Ries: Piano Quartet in F Minor, Op. 13: III. Rondo. Allegretto Moderato 07:01
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F Major, D.487:
• 6 Schubert: Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F Major, D.487: I. Adagio 04:06
• 7 Schubert: Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F Major, D.487: II. Rondo. Allegro Vivace 10:07
• Total Runtime 55:50

Info for Early Romantic Piano Quartets by Hummel, Ries & Schubert

Romanticism had many faces. Mozart’s spirit still floated through musical life and Beethoven’s mighty music set the benchmark for every Romantic composer. Mozart’s legacy was carried forward by two great pianists: Hummel, a pupil of Mozart, and Ries, a pupil of Beethoven. They each steered Romanticism in a different direction. Newspapers across Europe wrote of the ‘wild Romanticism’ of the bohemian Ries, now seen as a forerunner of Schumann. Meanwhile, the virtuoso Hummel enchanted and astonished his audiences. Around 1815, at the time of the Congress of Vienna, he was the most famous pianist in the world and Liszt was crazy about his music. Schubert, by contrast, was the creator and embodiment of personal expressiveness in the Romantic era. He performed only in private circles and had no interest in empty virtuosity, even though he was a superb pianist whose instrument, according to contemporaries, would sing under his hands.

This new recording presents the Piano Quartet in G major by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), the Piano Quartet in F minor by Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) and the Adagio & Rondo Concertante by Franz Schubert (1797-1828).

Van Swieten Society:
Heleen Hulst, violin
Elisabeth Smalt, viola
Mátyás Virág, cello
Bart van Oort, fortepiano

Van Swieten Society
The Van Swieten Society is a collective of musicians with a passion for chamber music from the classical and early-romantic periods. The ensemble plays on period instruments and regularly invites guest musicians who are related to its playing style. This flexible approach guarantees an adventurous choice of repertoire with various line-ups. The Van Swieten Society specialises first and foremost in the great masters of the musically rich period from Bach to Schumann. In addition, intensive research in international libraries still yields new discoveries; high-quality works that have fallen into oblivion for all kinds of reasons and deserve to be heard again. All this leads to colourful programmes with strong themes.

This album contains no booklet.