ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK (1854-1921): String Quartet in C, String Quartet movements in E Minor and in C Minor, Piano Quintet in G, Menuet in E Flat for Piano Quintet, Notturno in G for Violin and String Quartet.

Description: This composer's penchant for creating memorable, catchy melodies which sometimes suggest folk origins is prevalent throughout the early works here, especially in the half-hour-long piano quintet from 1875. His only completed string quartet, though, his last completed work of any kind and dating from 1919/20, is a fragrantly nostalgic look back to a brighter and more melodic time. Humperdinck may have originally intended to revise his piano quartet but then struck out on other lines since the quartet finale is based on the quintet finale. The other short pieces date from 1872, 1873, 1876 and 1879 and, besides being enjoyable on their own tuneful account, also, in their incompleteness, stand as evidence for the composer's general antipathy toward chamber music. Diogenes Quartet, Andreas Kirpal (piano), Lydia Dubrovskaya (solo violin).