Piano Quartet 6

Hardly any of Beethoven's symphonies lives as much from the colorfulness of the instrumentation as the "Pastoral". Nevertheless, a contemporary dared to write a chamber music transcription of this nowadays so popular masterpiece immediately after it's publication. With profit! The latest discovery of the Parnassus Academy juxtaposes Michael Gotthard Fischer's version of the 6th Symphony for string sextet with his piano quartet, which have never been recorded before. Fischer is only three years younger than Beethoven. And he was one of the first reviewers of the "Pastorale" in the renowned "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung". His judgement shows a deep understanding of Beethoven's visionary creative power and the subtle tonal details of the composition. The fact that he used the then still quite exotic instrumentation of the string sextet for his arrangement suggests considerable sonic ambitions. Through skillful choice of registers and combinations of instruments, Fischer achieves a differentiation that the few sextets of more famous contemporaries do not come close to. And there it is, the unrestrained tumult in the thunderstorm scene... Does one really miss the little birds of the flute and clarinet in the "Scene am Bach" (Scene at the Brook)? The colorfulness of the movement compensates by far. No wonder: Fischer was an extremely talented composer, as the piano quartet beautifully demonstrates. The ambition of the large-scale work is expressed not least in the dedication to Queen Luise, and Fischer does justice to it by every trick in the book. Elements of sonata and concerto are skillfully interwoven and artful cadenzas introduced. When the musicianship is as glowing as that of pianist Johann Blanchard and the other soloists of the Parnassus Academy, the only thing that can be said is: more of it!