Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916) was a late-Romantic German composer and pedagogue whom his friend Johannes Brahms acknowledged as a master composer. His wonderful music – highly respected in its day – fell into undeserved obscurity, due in part to the fact that he was Jewish. His music (along with that of many other Jewish composers) was thus banned during the Nazi era as “Entartete Kunst” (degenerate art), leaving it to succeeding generations to rediscover.

Gernsheim’s prolific, multi-genre output includes a remarkable body of chamber music, of which the Piano Quintet No.2 is a shining example. Pairing it here with Brahms’s immortal Piano Quintet in F minor enables the attentive listener to compare the two composers’ kindred late-romantic voices while savouring Gernsheim’s unique facility that Brahms so admired.

Joining the Formosa Quartet – one of the finest ensembles of its kind – is distinguished pianist Reiko Uchida; together, they deliver this rich music with precision, spirit and passion.