Hindemith Octet - The Fine Arts Quartet

Buckle up! These are great performances

Okay folks, this is buckle up time. Paul Hindemith is not for everyone, but he is for me. And his Octet is terrific music. But, it is not for the faint of heart -- have a little affinity in your soul for modern music in order to enjoy this. Performed by two of the pre-eminent chamber ensembles of their day, this is a great performance of the Octet. And Irving Ilmer's performance of the second work on this album, the Sonata for Viola Alone, is masterfully performed. The sound quality is crisp, clean and extremely dynamic. At points, it may be a bit sharpish, presumably due to some fairly close miking, but once you account for that it is not distracting. I cannot suggest more enjoyable or definitive performances of these two works than we have hear. If you think the music may suit your interests, I highly commend this performance and recording to you.