Caspar Joseph Brambach - Complete Piano Quartets; Piano Sextet Op. 5 (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Caspar Joseph Brambach

• Piano Sextet in C minor, Op. 5
• Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 13
• Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 43
• Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 110

Ernst Breidenbach, piano

Ingo de Haas, violin

Thomas Rössel, viola

Mikhail Nemtsov, cello

Gesine Kalbhenn-Rzepka, violin II

Marie Daniels, viola II

Date: 2026

Label: CPO

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Caspar Joseph Brambach, a contemporary of Johannes Brahms, enjoyed notable recognition during his lifetime. He studied and later taught at the Cologne Conservatory and served as music director in Bonn for eight years before focusing primarily on composition. Vocal music formed the core of his output, with his male choral works achieving particular success, while his instrumental compositions were also well regarded. Deeply influenced by Romanticism—especially the music of Robert Schumann—Brambach developed a distinctly lyrical style. This first recording presents a piano and string sextet from around 1860 alongside his three piano quartets, composed near the end of his career.

Caspar Joseph Brambach (1833–1902) was a German composer and musician closely associated with Bonn and Cologne. A scholarship recipient of the Mozart Foundation, he studied at the Cologne Conservatory under Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Reinecke and later taught there. From 1861 to 1869 he served as Municipal Music Director of Bonn before devoting himself fully to composition and musical education. Brambach was especially renowned for his male choral works and songs, while his instrumental music also gained contemporary acclaim. Stylistically rooted in the post-Mendelssohn Romantic tradition, his music is noted for its lyrical, cantabile character.