The Johannes Ensemble - Niels Gade: Octet, Allegro vivace, Quintet (1993)

The influence of Mendelssohn (and Schumann) on the music of Gade is well-attested to and it is readily apparent in the works presented here; indeed, one would hardly imagine Gade turning to the rarely found genre of the string octet without the relatively recent precedent of Mendelssohn's own youthful masterpiece. It is a work of Gade's youth too - albeit not the product of an artistic prodigy - and dates from the period when the Danish composer's inspiration was still fired by the Early Romantic movement. Although no-one would surely claim that it is on the same artistic level as the piece that seemingly inspired it, it is one of Gade's freshest and most polished chamber scores, rich in melody and incident, rhythmically vital and with more than a few hints of the atmospheric use of harmony that marked his early orchestral successes. For me, the tender 'Andante, quasi allegretto' is the finest movement, perhaps the Romantic heart of the work, his employment of pizzicato just one inspired touch in what is a cohesive but beautifully varied conception from point of view of scoring. The remaining movements present a more consistently sunny disposition and one comes away with the impression that this is probably as delightful a work to play as it is to listen to. Certainly the Johannes Ensemble sound as though they are enjoying themselves; this is a work that has been recorded more than once and the performance here can stand alongside any of them.