Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck
Performer: Elenora Pertz, Thomas Probst, Ursula Fingerle-Pfeffer, Daniel Schwartz, Clara Berger, Nikolay Borchev, Susanne Unger, Jörg Ulrich Krah, Karsten Lauke
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hänssler
Catalogue: HC21022
Release: 2021
Size: 638 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Menuett in E-Flat Major, EHWV 18
02. Das zerbrochene Ringlein, EHWV 43
03. Salonstück in A Minor, EHWV 65
04. Die Wasserrose, EHWV 58
05. Vorspiel zu “Tristan und Isolde“, EHWV 192 (After Wagner’s WWV 90)
06. Ballade in A Major, EHWV 36 (Arr. T. Probst for Chamber Ensemble)
07. Quartettsatz in E Minor, EHWV 22
Violin Sonata in A Major, EHWV 29
08. I. Andante con moto
09. II. Allegro
10. Das Lied vom Glück, EHWV 51
11. Wiegenlied, EHWV 115
12. Albumblatt in F Major, EHWV 147
13. Die wunderschöne Zeit, EHWV 27 (Arr. T. Probst for Chamber Ensemble)
14. Albumblatt in C Major, EHWV 99 (Arr. F. Hermann for Violin & Piano)
15. Notturno in G Major, EHWV 63
16. An die NachtigallI, EHWV 163
17. Altdeutsches Minnelied, EHWV 161
Engelbert Humperdinck (1854–1921) was a student at the Conservatory in Cologne from the spring of 1872; it was at this time that he got to know the Siegburg district judge and arbitrator Johannes Degen (1826–1902), an excellent singer and violinist, who gave regular chamber concerts in Siegburg at which he played in his own string quartet. Humperdinck, whose talent he had astutely spotted, was the pianist and composer he had been looking for. For his part, the young music student saw his admission to Degen’s chamber-music circle as an opportunity for regular performance; in return, he wrote whatever Degen requested.
Humperdinck’s tally of 13 chamber compositions represents a relatively small part of his oeuvre (beside his six operas and about 80 Lieder, along with stage music and choral works). Brief album-leaves for violin or cello and piano contrast with works for the major Classical genres of string quartet, piano quintet, piano trio, sonata and sonatina – most of which were never finished and sometimes survive only in the form of short sketches. His finished pieces include two major works, an early piano quintet (1875) and a late string quartet (1920); the other completed movements include some tailored to Degen’s domestic music-making.