# J.M. Kraus Flute Quintet



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I was reading Kraus's bio on wikipedia, because he had a somewhat interesting and tragic life from what is known. I had known his symphonies and piano sonatas, and the article mentioned his flute quintet as being a masterpiece of it's time, especially noteworthy for it's extended 1st movement. I gave it a listen. All the movements are very strong. The 1st movement is almost Schubertian in it's leisurely style, and you could almost say similarly sublime. Like Schubert it grows on you and has a warm glow to it throughout. The middle movement has very clever and colorful harmonic choices. Throughout it is lovely to hear the flute doubled with the string parts, and the way it is done makes me think of Haydn's later symphonies(in which the wind orchestration can be said to be sublime in spots).

Give it a listen or two!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I agree that Kraus's Quintet is a very fine work, little known only because the composer is little known, certainly not because the work is in any way second-rate. Some of Kraus's symphonies are also among the best of his era, always excepting a couple of guys around at that time...


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