Schelb / Rety / Moretti Chamber Music 2 CD

The Karlsruhe-based Josef Schelb (1894-1977) is one of the better-kept secrets of twentieth-century German music. His output was substantial: he lost most of his early music in a bombing raid in 1942, but - as if to make up for lost time - wrote some 150 more works after that. In the four chamber works recorded here Schelb's contrapuntal mastery is given a bucolic twist under the influence of French Impressionism, the two traditions combining to invest these pieces with a freewheeling energy and downright sense of fun. Of the first volume of Schelb's Chamber Music, MusicWeb International wrote: 'All the performances here are well-recorded, stylish and alert. I enjoyed the music very much, and look forward, with eager anticipation, to the next volume. This constitutes an auspicious start to what promises to be compelling orchestral cycle.'