Various - Zemlinsky: Chamber Music

The music of Alexander Zemlinsky has come to the attention of an increasingly wide public over the past quarter-century. As with many of his contemporaries, chamber music features prominently in Zemlinsky's formative years. The three works on this recording, written during the 1890s, reveal a skilful and assured figure in the process of working free of influences, notably Brahms. The 'Cello Sonata' is a substantial work, notable for a dark-hued slow movement and a warmly lilting finale. While indebted to Brahms in its scoring, the 'Clarinet Trio' is nonetheless Zemlinsky in its formal and expressive approach, and today certainly ranks among his most performed works.