The present album marks the 10th anniversary of the PhilHarmonia Octet. The
ensemble is made up of superlative soloists, laureates of major international
competitions, and members of globally renowned orchestras (the Berliner
Philharmoniker, WDR Köln, Czech Philharmonic, etc.). The recording features
works by both Czech and foreign composers. The Serenade in C minor is one of the
first pieces signalling the change in Mozart’s music, with the hitherto
enthralling playful abandon being replaced by serious, dramatic tones. Although
formally an entertainment piece, Die kleine Nachtmusik possesses an intellectual
profundity. On the other hand, the Wind Octet in E flat major (originally
denominated Partita), written by Beethoven at the age of 22, fully corresponded
to the piece’s being designated to be performed at banquets - most likely those
held by his employer, Maximilian Franz, the Elector and Archbishop of Cologne.
Technically challenging, it is conceived as a concert piece, with the parts
possessing a virtuoso stylisation. The extraordinarily gifted Czech pianist and
composer Gideon Klein (1919-1945) wrote his Divertimento when he was twenty
years of age, when he only had less than six years of life ahead of him, before
dying at the Fürstengrube concentration camp.
One of the most mature of his works, the piece reveals the artist’s having been
affected by Janácek and Schönberg, yet palpable too is the influence of
Neo-Classicism and the Moravian folk song. The album presents three totally
different facets of the wind octet, encompassing music that spans almost two
centuries, as performed by a brilliant ensemble.