Robert Volkmann String Quartets

[John Hudock]

I have seen several posts here praising the concertos and orchestral works of Robert Volkmann. I have been listening to his string quartets over the past few days and I have to say that they are all wonderful, very expressive works. There's not a bad one in the bunch. All 6 are available on CPO with the Mannheim quartet.

I will get the Volkmann piano trios also available on cpo and give them a listen.

[Marcus]

I'll second that John. It is very satisfying that  many Brahms associates & contempories are being recognised. His was a hard act to follow.
The time has come for Volkmann, Fuchs,Dietrich, Herzogenberg etc . Another, not represented in the catalogue is J.Otto Grimm (1827-1903), a pianist, who composed a Symphony, Suites for Orchestra, Choral works, Sonatas & Piano works, also Otto Desoff, (1832-1892) whose String Quartet is the only work in the catalogue, of which I am aware.
Marcus.

[John Hudock]

I love Fuchs' chamber music (esp the clarinet quintet). I've been less impressed with some of his orchestral music, but I think that may have to do with performance quality of what's available. Most of the performances seem pretty lackluster. I think if he found a good conductor to champion the works they may show much better. I've only listened to the Herzogenberg cello sonatas and like them quite a lot. I have the Piano quintet in my to-listen queue.

As for Dietrich, I'm only familar with his cello concerto, I'll have to search out some of the chamber music.

[Alan Howe]

To explore Dietrich, the must-buy set is the 2-CD cpo release which includes his glorious Symphony in D minor and the equally lovely Violin Concerto in the same key. Excerpts here...

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Albert-Dietrich-Symphonie-d-moll-op-20/hnum/1448906

[John Hudock]

Thanks Alan, I'll add them to my list.

[Mark Thomas]

I do agree with John about the quality of the Volkmann String Quartets, particularly the last three (there are six, all available form cpo). There's little that's namby pamby about Volkmann, he seems to know what he wants to say and gets right on and says it, with a minimum of noodling and I like that style very much. The Second Symphony, Cello Concerto, Richard III Overture and Piano Trio No.2 are all pretty much in the same vein, although he could also produce duds like the First Symphony and the Piano Sonata. I always find it odd that he still seems an also-ran amongst unsungs.