OUT NOW | Notos Quartett's New CD: "Brahms — The Schönberg Effect"

The disc features Brahms' Piano Quartet Op. 25 as well as his third symphony arranged by Andreas N. Tarkmann

Sony Classical announced the release of German-based Notos Quartett's new album: "Brahms — The Schönberg Effect."

The ensemble is made up of violinist Sindri Lederer, violist Andrea Burger, cellist Philip Graham, and pianist Antonia Köster.

"As the title of the CD suggests, the inspiration for the repertoire came from Arnold Schönberg, namely his idea of arranging Johannes Brahms's Piano Quartet Op. 25 for large orchestra," violinist Sindri Lederer said.

"As a fixed piano quartet, Brahms’ Op. 25 is one of the absolute cornerstone pieces of our repertoire and one of those incredible works you just can’t get enough of.

"Picking up on the idea of arranging the piano quartet, we wanted to turn it around and have a symphony by Brahms arranged for us. Of the symphonies, his third had the most chamber music appeal — Brahms himself had arranged it for two pianos — so we asked Andreas N. Tarkmann to arrange it especially for us. The journey of exploring such a symphonic masterpiece and combining it with one of our most treasured repertoire pieces was an incredible experience.

"We hope that the combination of a piano quartet and a symphony will illuminate how much symphonic structure can be heard in Brahms's chamber music and, vice versa, how much chamber music is anchored in his symphonic work.

"Amidst a pandemic in which performances are constantly canceled and the resulting uncertainty as to how the situation will continue, Brahms’s musical greatness helped us persevere and stay inspired both in the rehearsals leading up to the recording and throughout the recording days themselves. We hope that these incredible works can give listeners some of the same inner strength we feel they gave us."

Brahms — The Schönberg Effect

Notos Quartet

Label: Sony CLassical

Release Date: March 19, 2021