String Quintets, Opp. 15 & 51 (Eduard Franck)

Album review

Eduard Franck, unrelated to César Franck, was a German (specifically Silesian) composer and teacher of the third quarter of the 19th century. His chamber music was highly regarded by musical encyclopedists of his own time, who heard it firsthand, but it was only intermittently published. Only in the 21st century has it begun to appear reliably in modern editions, and from the evidence of these two string quintets it would appear that that publishing venture may substantially reshape the Romantic chamber repertoire. Both works are for the Mozartian combination of two violins, two violas, and cello, and both have movement shapes that rely on melodically abundant extensions of Beethovenian forms, but otherwise the two quintets, written 20 years apart, are quite different. The highlight may be the slow movement of the String Quintet in C major, Op. 51, a rainbow of harmonic colors that taxes but does not defeat the quintet of German players heard here. The earlier String Quintet in E minor, Op. 15, seems to have been influenced by Beethoven's Op. 59/2, string quartet in the same key, and its motivic work has few peers among Romantic chamber pieces. This is music Brahms would have known, and either work could be played alongside the better-known Viennese master's music. Superb Super Audio sound from the Audite label is another attraction; the prolix booklet notes in the CD release, which don't even get around to Franck on their first page spread, are less of one.
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