2. Eugen D'Albert (1864-1932)
Maybe slightly more well known than Hans Sommer, D'Albert - a vituoso pianist and composer - was born in Glasgow but moved to Europe to be taught by Liszt. He was famous as a concert pianist, but he also wrote a lot of operas, some orchestral pieces,songs and piano works. Also, he was married six times.
A few years back, I was just getting into string quartets and I wanted to hear music from composers born around the 1860's - I like that romantic period. I came across a recording of two string quartets by D'Albert (I'd never heard of him at the time), performed by the Sarastro Quartet. I loved them. It turns out that they were the only chamber music he composed, written when he was in his 20's.Here is the first movement of his first string quartet in A minor. I love thispiece and the way it's put together. It makes me think of windy, wet weather and the performance .....well it just works for me. I hope it works for you.
David Pulsford, guest editor, @lesser-known-composers
