Skizzen – Kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 11
Legenden – Dichtungen für das Klavier, Op. 18
Nachtbilder – Zehn Charakterstücke, Op. 25
Notturnos, Op. 28
Ideale – Clavierstücke, Op. 33
Vier Elegien für Pianoforte, Op.37

If you like the piano music of Robert Schumann, it's pretty well guaranteed that you will also appreciate the piano works of Theodor Kirchner (1823-1903). As in most of Robert Schumann's piano compositions like for example Kinderszenen, Davidsbündlertänze, Papillons, etc ... Theodor Kirchner employed the same structural format of writing suites of short episodic pieces within larger works. The total number of pieces in this set adds up to 47. As a concert pianist, he himself performed the music of Brahms and Schumann, and for a time was Clara Schumann's lover. Due to his ill-tempered personality and disposition, drinking and gambling habits, he was eventually frowned upon, neglected and dismissed as a failure in some circles. After suffering through two strokes, he died at the age of 79. According to the booklet notes, "there were respectful notices in the press about his death, but for the most part, the musical world had already moved on." Despite having lived into the 20th century, at a time when Bartok and Ravel were breaking new ground, he remained a true 19th century romantic well into his late opus numbers.

Were it not for this new recording by composer/pianist Lowell Liebermann, Kirchner would still be only a footnote in the annals of music history. Sure, one or two of his pieces have been included within collections of works by various composers, but I believe this is the first ever recording devoted strictly to his music, extending over two discs to boot. Liebermann expresses each and every piece with the same care and attention extended to any work by Schumann or Mendelssohn for example. There's a morose sense of anguished tenderness within most of his music, and an underlying darkness to his later works, that Liebermann exposes very well without undue exaggeration or puffery, speaking straight from the heart.

If you were looking to hear hitherto uncharted piano music similar to Brahms or Schumann's, from an unjustly neglected composer, you can't do better than this. Thumbs-up to Lowell Liebermann and producer Sergei Kvitko at Blue Griffin for offering something new, different and yet traditional, for us to enjoy.