Goldner String Quartet - Pierne: Piano Quintet; Vierne: String Quartet

The admired 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 forgotten today. His Piano Quintet shows the influences of Massenet and Franck which characterize his music, and features the Basque dance �zortzico�.Vierne was a celebrated organist, and his compositions for organ are heard every Sunday wherever there are suitable instruments and performers. His String Quartet shows a lighter side: it contains the Intermezzo, described by Roger Nichols as �quite simply one of the most delicious 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�.