Presents
Josef Labor
Piano Quartet in C Major, Op.6
Josef Labor (1842-1924), who was born in the Bohemian town of Horowitz and blinded by smallpox at the age of three, was, as a result, sent to Vienna to study at the Institute for the Blind. His precocious musical talent resulted in his being sent to study at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. For several years he had a career as a concert pianist and then later studied organ and today is mostly remembered for his compositions for that instrument. Labor knew and was on friendly terms with virtually every musician of importance in Vienna as well as many others living elsewhere, including Brahms, Richard Strauss, Bruckner, Clara Schumann, Gustav Mahler and Bruno Walter.
Although his Piano Quartet in C Major, Op.6 dates from 1893 it harks back to the era of the Vienna classics but written in the idiom of the late Romantic. It was dedicated to Leopoldine Wittgenstein, the wife of Steel magnate Karl Wittgenstein, one of the most wealthy men in the world. Among her children were Paul Wittgenstein, a concert pianist and Ludwig Wittgenstein a famous philospher. This Piano Quartet is a highly appealing work which can be warmly recommended not only for the concert hall but also to amateurs. The first movement, Allegro, is a shining example of Labor’s outstanding compositional ability and technique. It is full of lovely, flowing melodies. A warm-blooded Adagio ma non troppo serves as the second movement. A beautiful, sentimental intermezzo, Quasi allegretto, follows and has within it a scherzando section. The finale, Allegro, ma non troppo, begins with a strongly rhythmic march-like theme. It is full of power and forward motion.
This is a first rate piano quartet, featuring lovely sonorities and melodies. Long out of print, it is with pleasure that we reintroduce this wonderful work which deserves concert performance and can be recommended to amateurs as well..
Parts: $34.95
