Friedrich Kuhlau - Piano Quartet in C-minor, Op.32 (1821)

 

Friedrich Kuhlau, pastel by Christian Horneman from 1828

 

 Piano Quartet in C-minor, Op.32 (1821)

 

Mov.I: Allegro 00:00 Mov.II: Adagio 16:03
Mov.III: Finale: Allegro 24:25

Piano: Elisabeth Westenholz
Violin: Tutter Givskov
Viola: Lars Grunth
Cello: Asger Lund Christiansen

 

He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age and is immortalized in Danish cultural history through his music for Elves' Hill, the first true work of Danish National Romanticism and a concealed tribute to the absolute monarchy. To this day it is his version of this melody which is the definitive arrangement.

During his lifetime, Kuhlau was known primarily as a concert pianist and composer of Danish opera, but was responsible for introducing many of Beethoven's works, which he greatly admired, to Copenhagen audiences. Kuhlau was a prolific composer, as evidenced by the fact that although his house burned down, destroying all of his unpublished manuscripts, he still left a legacy of more than 200 published works in most genres.