Klughardt: String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62; String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61 Pleyel Quartett Köln & Helga Löhrer

• August Klughardt (1847 - 1902): String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62:
• 1 Klughardt: String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62: I. Moderato 11:01
• 2 Klughardt: String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62: II. Andante 08:35
• 3 Klughardt: String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62: III. Allegro moderato 05:35
• 4 Klughardt: String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62: IV. Allegro vivace 08:49
• String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61:
• 5 Klughardt: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61: I. Allegro moderato 12:39
• 6 Klughardt: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61: II. Andante cantabile 07:34
• 7 Klughardt: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61: III. Molto moderato 04:42
• 8 Klughardt: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61: IV. Presto 05:02
• Total Runtime 01:03:57

Info for Klughardt: String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62; String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61

The Pleyel Quartet Cologne announces its upcoming album, recorded on our partner label CAvi Music, on which they present two string works by August Klughardt together with cellist Helga Löhrer.

Klughardt (born in Köthen in 1847) developed a love of music at an early age through his father, a violist. When he began regular piano lessons at the age of ten and learned both music theory and practice from the best musicians in the city, the foundations were laid for a wide range of musical activities. Playing the piano, composing, and conducting played an equal role in his musical personality throughout his life.

Pleyel Quartet Cologne:
Helga Löhrer, cello
Ingeborg Scheerer, violin
Stefanie Irgang, violin
Andreas Gerhardus, viola
Nicholas Selo, cello

Pleyel Quartett Köln
A special feature of the Pleyel Quartet's sound comes from their specific use of gut strings and selective vibrato creating a limpid and warm tonal transparency. Following on their highly-acclaimed performance of Ignaz Pleyel's Prussian Quartets nos. 7-9 came performances at the Muziek Biennale Lower Rhine, the WDR Festival Tage Alter Musik in Herne, the Lower Austrian Summer Music Festival and as guests of the International Ignaz Joseph Pleyel Society. In 2010 the Pleyel Quartet featured as the opening concert of the Schumannfest in Bonn (Schumannhaus) and were chosen to represent the classical-romantic chamber-music field at the 1st Cologne Festival of Early Music. 2011 saw a performance at the Beethovenfest in Bonn. After recording Pleyel's Prussian Quartets nos. 4-6 in 2009 the group devoted itself to a thorough study of 19th century period performance practices. Louis Spohr and especially Joseph Joachim provided a source of great inspiration in the (re-) discovery and assessment of composers such as Norbert Burgmüller, August Klughardt and Ferdinand Hiller.

It is a particular onus of the Pleyel Quartet in their work that lesser-known composers be brought into performance context with the works of their more famous colleagues, thus adding to the new aural perspectives arising out of each ensemble member's broad experience in historical performance practice.

The name itself testifies to the quartet's wish to revive the unrecognized, the unheard of, the forgotten:

Ignaz Pleyel (1757–1831) was one of the most popular composers of his time, when he was just as well known as Haydn and Mozart and to contemporary tastes arguably even more popular than they were. During his lifetime Pleyel's works were issued in some two thousand editions by about two hundred and fifty publishers across fifty cities in Europe and North America. Catalogues listing the works on offer during the years 1787 to 1792 by the publisher F.E. Leuckart shows Pleyel numerically in the lead over other composers with a total of 481 compositions with Haydn featuring 134 and Mozart 83 publications. Today Pleyel is mostly remembered for his pieces for violin beginners and some may also know that one of the Paris' most famous concert halls of the world is called "Salle Pleyel" named after the composer, publisher, piano manufacturer and social entrepreneur.

Booklet for Klughardt: String Quintet in G Minor, Op. 62; String Quartet in D Major, Op. 61