Egon Kornauth Piano Quartet (1917)

[britishcomposer]

Austrian radio Oe1 broadcast the first movement of Egon Kornauth's 1917 Piano Quartet recently.
It was first broadcast in a program called "Moderne Stunden" in 1952 alongside music by Hindemith and Schönberg.
This is such a charming piece that I thought I'd share it. The main subject is very memorable.
To make matters worse, the composer works heavily with it so you will end up with a nasty earworm.
What makes it so memorable?
It's more of a motto than a theme I think, the note values become gradually smaller which gives it a forward thrust.

[Alan Howe]

See Downloads board:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,7760.msg81223.html#new

[brendangcarroll]

Thank you so much for this! Kornauth's String Quartets are absolutely gorgeous too - does anyone know if there are any recordings of them?

[eschiss1]

Is his Kleine Abendmusik a string quartet? One of our members has mentioned (elsewhere) having played in a performance of it...

[brendangcarroll]

Kleine Abendmusik for 2 violins, viola and cello, Op. 14 (1915)
(Little evening music) which is indeed scored for string quartet.

and there's also:

Kleine Hausmusik

(Little Chamber Music; Petite composition facile) for 2 violins, viola and cello, Op. 41a (1939); also for piano, Op. 41b

There is a lot of chamber music and two named string quartets, one published (opus 26) and one not.

[Alan Howe]

The sense of 'Kleine Hausmusik' is music to be played in the home, i.e. in a domestic setting.