Presents
Herman Løvanskiold
Piano Quartet in f minor, Op.26
Herman Severin Løvenskiold (1815-1870) was born in the Norwegian town of Holden. With his family he moved to Copenhagen where he is thought to have studied with Christoph Weyse and Friedrich Kuhlau among others. He then traveled to Vienna and Leipzig where he also was said to have taken composition lessons. Most of his music was for the theater but he composed a piano trio as well as this piano quartet. His music shows the influence of Schumann and to some extent Mendelssohn but is in many respects quite original sounding.
The Piano Quintet in f minor dates from 1862. It is in three movements. The tuneful opening Allegro flows along effortlessly, full of lovely melodies and fine part-writing. A lyrical and romantic middle movement, Larghetto, follows. The exciting finale, Allegro molto vivace, is hard driving and full of forward energy. Each instrument is nicely treated and while the piano is given a lot of notes, a la Mendelssohn, it never dominates but remains an equal part of the ensemble.
Fresh and original, this fine work has long been out of print. We have reprinted the only edition. Although the piano part is not a piano score, we have added rehearsal numbers to aid performance. We are pleased to make this fine work available once more and hope that it will win new friends.
Parts: $34.95
