Dick Kattenburg (1919-1944): Trio à cordes
Sandor Kuti (1908-1945): Serenade for String Trio
Hans Krasa (1899-1944):
- Passacaglia & Fuga for String Trio
- Tanec for String Trio
Gideon Klein (1919-1945): Trio for violin, viola, and cello
Paul Hermann (1902-1944): Strijktrio
Géza Frid (1904-1989): Trio à cordes, Op. 1 [World Premiere Recording]

This is the debut recording of the Black Oak Ensemble, a violin, viola and cello trio based in Chicago. And an ambitious and impressive debut effort it is, not only for its commited musicianship and top-notch audio quality, but also for its foray into unknown or obscure territory. Most if not all of the composers included on this recording have faded into the history books or been consigned to oblivion altogether. One survived the war but the others died in concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe. As the title of the CD suggests, they were deliberately "silenced". The Black Oak Ensemble not only present us with music that was, but also offer us a look into music that could have been.

You would be hard-pressed to find other recordings of most of the music on hand here. Be they Dutch, Hungarian or Czech, these composers all had something significant to express and were an integral component of the musical landscape of the 20th century. For example, the highly intricate and impressive Passacaglia & Fuga for String Trio by Hans Krasa was actually written in horrible conditions during his final year of internment. Imagine what these composers would have contributed to music had they not been "terminated" prematurely and been allowed to flourish. This, amongst others, is an important recording for it stands as a digital timestamp of one of the darkest periods in human history. And the members of the Black Oak Ensemble play and express this music like it truly matters.