Chamber music and songs by Robert Kahn

[Alan Howe]

Sounds delightful:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Robert-Kahn-1865-1951-Klavierquartett-Nr-2/hnum/3386181

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Delightful? No, I'd say indispensable. (I'm going to cite you, Alan, as an overpowering influence when it comes to the bankruptcy proceedings!)

Seriously, I'm surprised we don't hear much more of Kahn. A quick look at Wiki and you discover that no less than Brahms was impressed by the young Kahn that he offered to give him lessons, but that Kahn was too overawed by Brahms to accept (that story, given what we know of Brahms, is surely astonishing?). Kahn's Suite for Vn & Pf was performed with Adolf Busch; both Violin Sonatas were dedicated to, and performed by, Joachim; Clara Schumann approvingly notes one of the Sonatas in her diary; the Clarinet Trio Op 45 was dedicated to, and performed by, Muhlfeld; and Hans von Bulow conducted the Berlin PO in Kahn's Serenade for Orchestra.

Struth, what more in the way of credentials could one possibly expect? And now, Kahn has largely slipped by the wayside.

I'm assuming the Serenade on this CD is not the Serenade in F minor, Op. 73? That's the work on the second of two Tacet discs titled 'In the Shadow of Brahms', where it is coupled with the wonderful Clarinet Trio Op. 94 of Berger (the latter being compulsory listening for all).

I've also got a recording of Kahn's Op. 73 Serenade in the version for Oboe, Viola & Piano (in a disc with a perhaps less memorable Trio by Hugo Kauder). So I'm quite excited by this new disc, and the order is in. (Finally perhaps I should iron the best shirt for that appearance as a potential bankrupt. Tough business is this enthusiasm for unsung composers!)

[Alan Howe]

Terribly sorry, Peter. (Not!)

[Simon]

I do agree, Kahn's music deserves to be better known. The String Serenade on this recording is definitely not the same as Op. 73. And by the way, YouTube has a nice performance of Kahn's Cello Sonata Op. 56 :
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vjeuBQp0LAQ

[petershott@btinternet.com]

I've finally got around to this new disc of Robert Kahn's Piano Quartet No. 2 in A minor Op. 30, the Serenade for String Trio (1933), and the Sieben Lieder mit Klaviertrio aus Paul Heyses Jungbrunnen Op. 46. It arrived this morning, and I've played the Piano Quartet twice.

First impression: wonderful work! I also guess it will unfold more of its secrets after a few more hearings. It is a cleverly crafted work, and like all fine chamber music I think there is a lot more there than is at first apparent to the ear.

Now for the Serenade for Strng Trio.

One minor grumble about the disc: it surprised me that for a full priced disc Hanssler don't provide the texts for the Heyse songs, let alone English translations of the German texts. Since the poems themselves are quite short and simple, supplying the texts in the booklet wouldn't have consumed much printer's ink. Unforgivable really. But a quick hunt around the internet produced them.

As I said in an earlier post, I really hope we get more Kahn. Impeccable credentials (as it were), and there is quite an amount of what appears (judged by the written word) fine chamber music.

Ironic really: the last few years seem to have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of first class string quartets and chamber ensembles. (Attending chamber concerts up and down East Anglia - and a tiny bit of the whole world it is - shows there is one heck of a lot of very real talent about). But they all seem to be performing and recording an almost diminishing repertoire. Darwin taught us that diversification is an indispensable tool for survival. I wish some of these young groups took that lesson to heart! If only they would branch out and try hugely deserving unsung composers such as Kahn, rather than an unvarying diet of the mainstream classics (but then I'd never complain about frequent performances and recordings of Brahms, Schumann etc).