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Once again the Berolina Ensemble has a sensational surprise in store. The Clarinet Quintet and Sonata for Piano and Clarinet penned by Hans Weisse are heard on this in what may be first-ever performances. In any case, this is what the manuscripts suggest they were first rendered playable by the musical discovery team led by the clarinetist Friederike Roth, and their work paid off! Delightful late Romanticism meets ambitious tonality in this music displaying it's own unique appeal. Hardly anything is known about the composer. Born in Vienna to an actor, Hans Weisse was a pupil of Heinrich Schenker, whose radical approach to music theory won him many adherents particularly in the United States. In 1930 Weisse himself accepted an appointment in New York, where he died mysteriously in 1940 at the early age of 48. Weisse did most of his composing during his years in Vienna, before Wilhelm Furtwangler called him to Berlin for instruction in Schenker's compositional methods. The contrast between Weisse's perspicacity in music theory and the obscurity of his writing practice is striking. Even his meticulous mentor Schenker felt that many a piece of his was too intellectual. However, the performances by the Berolina Ensemble create just the opposite impression the music shines and vibrates with intensity, the harmonies continuing within the bounds of tonality are taken to the bursting point, and on this this rewarding new discovery also offers sumptuous listening pleasure.
