Brahms and Schoenberg- String Quartets

The Kuss Quartet's fourth album for Onyx explores the strong musical and philosophical links between Johannes Brahms and Arnold Schoenberg. Both composers were simultaneously radical and traditional - a combination that was born out of the periods of musical transition in which they lived. The program begins with Brahms's lighthearted, almost Mozartean String Quartet No.3, followed by a selection of his emotionally charged lieder sung by German soprano Mojca Erdmann. The recording's conclusion looks toward the future with Schoenberg's magical String Quartet No.2, which features Erdmann singing settings of Expressionist poetry by Stefan George.