Hendrik Witte - Piano Quartet in A major, Op. 5

Composer: Georg Hendrik Witte (16 November 1843 -- 3 February 1929)
Performers: Frans van Ruth (piano), Ruña 't Hart (violin), Isa Juárez (viola), Sam Shepherd (cello)
Year of recording: 2013 (live)

Quartet in A Major for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, Op. 5, written in 1867.

00:00 - I. Moderato assai
12:55 - II. Sostenuto
25:03 - III. Vivace
32:46 - IV. Allegro giojoso

Hendrik Witte was a Dutch professor, composer, Royal and municipal director of music, and conductor of the 'Musikverein' in Essen. He significantly shaped the musical life of the city of Essen.

The printed compositional work of Witte includes compositions with and without opus numbers. The early works were written during the stay in Leipzig. The best-known compositions from this period are the Waltzes for piano (four hands) from 1868 dedicated to Brahms, the award-winning Piano Quartet in A major, Op. 5 (1867), and the Quintet for Horn and Strings (1871). Wittes compositions are written in the style of the "Leipzig School". They contain, in the words of Gaston Dejmek: "a balance of delicate formality, a liquid harmoniously bound phrasing, the sensitive expression of the vocalisation".

In this piano quartet, the sweeping piano arpeggio at the beginning reminds one of Schubert's "Trout" quintet, and the last movement has a small fugato section with a rousing coda section.

The piano quartet is dedicated: "Carl Reinecke zugeeignet".