Karl Goldmark: Works for Piano, Vol. 2

At least outside of central Europe, Karl Goldmark is known for the Rustic Wedding Symphony and not much else. This disc and its companion, however, show that there was more to Goldmark than that single work. Goldmark was not a pianist, and this music doesn't have the natural line on the keyboard that characterizes the piano works of the nineteenth century's great composer-virtuosi. It is, however, strikingly forward-looking in some ways, and it will be of a good deal of interest to listeners intrigued by the ebb and flow of ... Read More

At least outside of central Europe, Karl Goldmark is known for the Rustic Wedding Symphony and not much else. This disc and its companion, however, show that there was more to Goldmark than that single work. Goldmark was not a pianist, and this music doesn't have the natural line on the keyboard that characterizes the piano works of the nineteenth century's great composer-virtuosi. It is, however, strikingly forward-looking in some ways, and it will be of a good deal of interest to listeners intrigued by the ebb and flow of large trends in the piano music of the nineteenth century. The chief influence on the young Goldmark (the music here was written early in his career) was Schumann, and the general mood of inwardly recollected experience greatly resembles that of Schumann's famous programmatic sets. Goldmark, though, adds something new: close study of J.S. Bach's music and even the music of earlier eras than that. The result is sets of short pieces that don't have quite the internal consistency of... Read Less