The Best Classical Albums of 2024 #18

Forgotten Sounds

The Best Classical Albums of 2024

Album #18

“Forgotten Sounds”

Octet for two clarinets, harp, string quartet and double bass by Charles Martin Loeffler

David Shifrin, Graeme Steele Johnson - clarinets

Stella Chen, Siwoo Kim - violins

Matthew Lipman - viola

Samuel DeCaprio - cello

Sam Suggs - double bass

Bridget Kibbey - harp

Label: Delos

Released: June 2024

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Discovering a new piece of music after so many years of listening to music is like the gravy on top. I had never heard of German American composer Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935), but I was turned on to his recently rediscovered Octet for two clarinets, harp, string quartet and double bass by reviews I read online and from Andrew Farach-Colton of Gramophone Magazine. The work is included on the album Forgotten Sounds issued on the Delos label in June 2024 and featuring musicians gathered by the gifted clarinettist Graeme Steele Johnson. He is joined by David Shifrin (clarinet), Stella Chen (violin), Siwoo Kim (violin), Matthew Lipman (viola), Samuel DeCaprio (cello) Sam Suggs (double bass), and Bridget Kibbey (harp).

Loeffler was a violinist, and he studied in Berlin with the well-known violinist Joseph Joachim. In 1881 he emigrated to the United States and took up a position as the assistant concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1882 until 1902. Eventually Loeffler would devote himself entirely to composition, and he became friends with composers Eugène Ysaÿe, Gabriel Fauré, Ferruccio Busoni, and George Gershwin. He was also a friend of artist John Singer Sargent, and Sargent painted Loeffler’s portrait. His music was somewhat reminiscent of French masters such as Debussy, Chausson, and Franck. Later in life he would develop an interest in jazz.