Another generally unknown composer, given his due by CPO, at least for two of his works. Thuille attended and later was a famed pedagogue at the Huchschule fur Musik in Munich. His composition teacher had been Rheinberger, and his musical style was solidly in the grand Wagnerian genre. He wrote three operas, but also a great deal of chamber music, and these two lovely works are examples of the latter.
Thuille lived until 1907, his active life in music cut short at age 45 by a heart attack. The first quintet comes from early in the composer’s career, but both works seem to look backward to the style of works composed earlier in the 19th century. The first quintet is modeled on Beethoven’s and Schumann’s works in that form. Much of it fits the Germanic “sturm und drang” spirit. The second quintet is a lengthy work at nearly 42 minutes, with four movements. It was completed in 1901 and sounds just a much a masterpiece as the quintets of Franck and Dvorak. While conservative in design, it doesn’t sound old-fashioned – just lacking in some of the extravagant expression expected from his friend Richard Strauss. The first movement has a solemn theme that may remind one of Bruckner. The shortest of the movements is the Scherzo, marked Allegro – it has an offbeat connection with the stories of E. T. A. Hoffman. The piano is skillfully integrated into the ensemble to create at many points a seemingly richer chamber sound than just the combination of the piano and string quartet would produce. CPO’s fine engineering ensures that his impression comes across.
– John Sunier
