Despite being restricted in her musical career by her husband and parents, Amy Beach became the first wholly successful American woman composer and concert pianist. A grand, sweeping work in the Romantic style, her quintet easily stands beside the great works in the genre by Schumann, Brahms, and Dvořák. As preludes to the Beach, fanciful works by Beethoven and Schumann lead to the intense sonic and rhythmic world of Erwin Schulhoff, whose bracing duo for violin and cello rivals those by his contemporaries Ravel and Kodály.

Performers
Gilles Vonsattel, Piano/Harpsichord
Francisco Fullana, Violin
Ida Kavafian, Violin
Matthew Lipman, Viola
David Finckel, Cello