Search - Johann Sobeck, Albert Schweitzer Quintet :: Johann Sobeck: 3 Wind Quintets

Never Heard of Johann Sobeck? You're Not Alone. But You Shou

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 01/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had never to my recollection heard of composer Johann Sobeck before this cpo CD came my way. Sobeck (1831-1914) composed, at least on the basis of these three woodwind quintets, music fully the equal of those two other minor composers beloved by woodwind quintet players, Anton Reicha and Franz Danzi. By calling them minor I mean only to indicate that their reputations depend almost solely on their contribution to this specialized genre, as apparently Sobeck's does. Almost nothing is known of Sobeck's life except that he was born near Karlsbad in 1831, studied at the Prague Conservatory, and was a clarinetist of note, spending five decades in the court orchestra in Hanover. He apparently does not merit mention in Grove's Dictionary and the facts I've outlined here are from the excellent booklet notes written by Hans C. Hachmann.



The three quintets played here are of a piece. They are beautifully constructed; clearly Sobeck understood the genre thoroughly. There are virtuoso bits for all five instruments but one is aware that the clarinet often seems to be primus inter pares. There are four extant quintets; this CD includes the first three, apparently recorded for the first time. All have a slow second movement followed by a scherzo. Faster movements often have a short slow introduction à la Haydn. The finale of No. 3 is a brilliant tarantella. These quintets are richly melodic, harmonically conservative but ingenious nonetheless, and generally high-spirited.



The Albert Schweitzer Quintett, a group new to me, is excellent, with impeccable intonation, hair-trigger rhythmic instincts and a joie de vivre that is inspiriting, the latter particularly welcome for me as I began listening to this disc while suffering from the flu; the music deinitely was aural balm. Sound is clear and lifelike. All hail to cpo for yet again bringing us worthy works from the outer edges of the 19th-century repertoire.



Scott Morrison"