Songs in the Key of Love

“Songs in the Key of Love” features the brilliant period-instrument Diderot String Quartet and baritone Jesse Blumberg, performing songs of Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, to complement two great string quartets: Robert Schumann’s Quartet in A major, Op. 41, No. 3 and Mendelssohn’s Quartet in F minor, Op. 80. 

Mendelssohn’s last quartet was written when he was grieving the death of his beloved sister—his “requiem for Fanny” he called it; it is pervaded by a desperate sadness that is rare for the composer. Schumann’s quartet, by contrast, exudes the joy of his love for his young wife Clara Schumann. To accompany these quartet masterworks, the Diderot has commissioned song arrangements from this elite circle of German romantics: Fanny Mendelssohn, the brilliant Clara and Johannes Brahms, who became Clara’s life-long consoler and confidante after Robert’s illness and death.

Robert Schumann: String Quartet in A major, Op. 41 #3

Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn: Lieder

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet Op. 80