Schumann's Piano Quartet in E flat in Building a Library with Marina Frolova-Walker and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music.

9.30 am
David Owen Norris is in the studio with a clutch of exciting new releases and shares his 'On Repeat' track – a recording which he is currently listening to again and again.

10.30 am
Building a Library: Marina Frolova-Walker chooses her favourite version of Schumann's Piano Quartet in E flat.

Robert Schumann composed his E-flat Piano Quartet in 1842 for piano, violin, viola and cello. That year is often called Schumann's "Year of Chamber Music" because, in a stretch of nearly unbroken intensity, he produced a string of chamber music masterpieces. The Piano Quartet was the last of the series, written within a few weeks. Like the Piano Quintet, the Piano Quartet was written with his wife Clara in mind. She described the quartet in her diary as a "beautiful work, so youthful and fresh, as if it were his first". The piece shows the extroverted, exuberant side of the composer's creative genius.

11.20 am
Record of the Week: Andrew’s top pick.

Below are details of the recording recommended in Marina Frolova-Walker’s Building a Library on Schumann's Piano Quartet in E flat.

The Festival Quartet
Sony G010003590870J

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