Max von Schillings (1868-1933)
Quatuor à cordes en mi mineur
Quintette à cordes en mi bémol majeur, op. 32

Wiener Striechquintett

Thomas Christian, violon
Magdalena Kupf, violon
Ferdinand Erblich, alto
Martin Albrecht Rohde, alto
Michael Hell, violoncelle

Today the general public continues to remember Max von Schillings mainly as an opera composer. During his lifetime he was a famous man, at least in Germany, but today he no longer receives major notice. cpo has called attention to his rewarding oeuvre with a number of releases. What is not so well known is that Schillings completely dedicated himself to chamber music at the beginning and at the end of his career as a composer. The String Quartet in E minor of 1887 is a work of his youth establishing his credentials both as a Wagnerian and as a highly gifted expert in Romantic music of Classical orientation. By contrast, the String Quintet op. 32 of 1917 is a mature work showing him as an artist of magnificent expressivity who continues to be influenced by his »Wagner experience« but also is aware of what is happening around him. This is expressive fin de siècle par excellence and a genuine discovery in this interpretation by the Vienna String Quintet led by its first violinist Thomas Christian!