Niels Gade - Sextet; Octet (Berlin Philharmonic String Octet)

Information

Composer: Niels Gade

• (01) Sextet in E flat major, Op. 44
• (05) Octet in F major, Op. 17

Berlin Philharmonic String Octet
Laurentius Dinca, violin (1-8)
Stephan Schulze, violin (1-8)
Kotowa Machida, violin (5-8)
Heinz-Henning Perschel, violin (5-8)
Walter Küstner, viola (5-8)
Wolfgang Talirz, viola (1-8)
Matthew Hunter, viola (1-4)
Christoph Igelbrink, cello (1-8)
Mathias Donderer, cello (1-8)

Date: 2001
Label: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

If you like Mendelssohn’s Octet you will love this disc of Niels Gade’s chamber works. The Danish composer’s own Octet and Sextet are so similar in structure and sonority to the more famous work that you would swear they were written by Mendelssohn himself. Of course, Gade and Mendelssohn were reasonably close, as Gade was assistant conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig before taking over the directorship after Mendelssohn’s death in 1847. Composed in 1848, the Octet (not surprisingly) was inspired by Mendelssohn’s, with closely matched tempo markings across its four movements (including the same “con fuoco” direction in the first movement). The work does not enjoy the lyrical impulse of its predecessor but does feature its own delectable moments, especially in the light, plucky scherzo and the charming melodies in the violin in the finale.

The Sextet, completed in 1863 and later slightly revised, resembles Mendelssohn’s Octet even more: the scherzo, with its quicksilver repeated-note passages, sounds an awful lot like Mendelssohn’s first movement. The Berlin Philharmonic String Octet, whose stated mission is to expand the repertoire for string octet (a pretty narrow mandate, to be sure), plays with assuredness and with the same lustrous tone we associate with the Berlin orchestra itself. MDG’s sonics are excellent, featuring a full, rich acoustic without any undue heaviness in the lower strings.

-- Michael Liebowitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ****
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/m/mdg81102a.php

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Niels Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer and teacher. Gade began his career as a violinist with the Royal Danish Orchestra. After his 1st symphony was positively received and conducted by Felix Mendelssohn, Gade himself moved to Leipzig and befriending Mendelssohn, who had an important influence on his music. He returned to Copenhagen in 1848 and became director of the Copenhagen Musical Society and Copenhagen Conservatory. Among Gade's works are 8 symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music and a number of large-scale cantatas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Gade

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The Philharmonic String Octet of Berlin was founded in 1994 by eight members of the Berliner Philharmoniker. With its specific combination of chamber-musical intensity and large-scale symphonic sonority, the ensemble has quickly found a place in international concert life. It appears in Germany and abroad, for example in Japan, Spain and South America. The Philharmonic String Octet was awarded the 1999 Argentine critics’ prize as Best Foreign Chamber Music Ensemble. Along with the standard repertoire, the musicians always include unfamiliar and rarely performed works in their concert programmes.
https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/ensembles/group/philharmonisches-streichoktett-berlin/

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