Pierne- Piano Quintet- Vierne- String Quartet in D minor

The Goldner String Quartet presents two utterly charming - yet little-known - examples of French chamber music by contemporaneous composers Pierne and Vierne. Pierne's fame came from his conducting, and his compositions are largely forgotten today. His Piano Quintet shows the influences of Massenet and Franck. Best known for his sacred organ music, Vierne's String Quartet shows a lighter side. It features the Intermezzo, one of the most beautiful movements in all French chamber music. Over it hovers the spirit of Berlioz's Queen Mab Scherzo and of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream, conjured up by pizzicatos, tremolos and dancing phrases that suddenly turn on a centime piece from one key to another.