Heinrich Marschner was the leading German operatic composer between Weber and the rise of Wagner, but he also wrote prolifically for chamber forces. His Piano Trios no.2 and no.6 share similar qualities: both are in a minor key, they are rich in agitated melodies, and are full of inventive interplay between the three instruments. In contrast to the earlier light-hearted Trio no.1 (available on 8574612), no.2 is a darker, more tension-filled work, albeit with Mendelssohnian grace. No.6 also embodies elements of mid- 19th-century Romanticism conveyed in music that ranges from the turbulent to the spectral.

The first volume in this series is on 8574612 and contains Trios no. 1 and no. 7: ‘They each offer sufficient interest and cleverness to warrant involved listening… I’m most grateful to the Gould Piano Trio for their committed advocacy of these neglected, often delightful works, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next instalment’ (Gramophone).

The Gould Piano Trio are important figures in the Naxos catalogue and are represented in Naxos’s The A–Z of Classical Music and in Naxos’s Great Chamber Music release, a 10-CD box. They have also made some fine recordings of British chamber music – Alwyn, Bax, Stanford, Ireland – but also Hummel, Mendelssohn, etc.