Wilhelm Berger - Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 100 (1908)

Wilhelm Reinhard Berger (9 August 1861 - 16 January 1911) was a German composer, pianist and conductor.

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Piano Quartet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 100 (1908)

1. Lebhaft (0:00)
2. Sehr langsam (10:51)
3. Lebhaft aber nicht zu sehr (22:47)
4. Lebhaft (30:16)

Elia Seiffert, piano; Elisa Bösch, Violin; Silvan Irniger, Viola; Jonathan Reuveni, Violoncello

Like most of the composers from the circle of the 'Berlin Academics', Berger developed a great mastery of music theory. Stylistically, his music is very close to that of Johannes Brahms, even though it almost hints at the later works of Max Reger (who was to become Berger's successor as Meiningen Kapellmeister) through its preference for dissonant harmony and counterpoint techniques.

Berger was a prolific composer - his oeuvre numbers well over a hundred works. The Piano Quintet, Op. 95, the Second Symphony and the late compositions for choir are generally considered to be his masterpieces. Long after his death, his work was rated very highly, particularly among musical conservatives. Wilhelm Altmann wrote very positively about Berger in the third volume of his influential Manual for String Quartet Players (Handbuch für Streichquartettspieler).