For Berlin Kammermusik Liste’s second Berlin Play-In this year, we were once again allowed to come together at my former school, which, with its three grand pianos and many classrooms, offers excellent conditions for making music in many different constellations. Again, I first asked the cellists I knew in Berlin which date they could take part in and then chose April 6, 2025, so that we were sure to have enough bass instruments with us – a procedure that I can highly recommend! In the end we were 28 musicians, namely: 1sopr, 3fl, ob, cl, bn, 8vn, 6va, 4vc and 3pf, but with numerous “double talents”, namely sopr/vn/va, pf/vn, 5vn/va, vc/va/vn, va/rec, vn/db, which makes the ensemble combination considerably easier!

The following pieces were performed:

Opening, all together: Rheinberger, Nonet for wind quintet and tutti strings, 1st movement, with the horn part played by the cor anglais and the oboe part by two flutes…

In the first session we divided ourselves into seven ensembles, namely:

Andrée, Piano Quintet, 1st movement, and Bruch, Piano Quintet, 2nd movement.

Elgar, Six Promenades and Harmony Musics for wind quintet without horn, but with two flutes Fuchs, String Trio for 2 violins and viola

Haydn, op. 20, String Quartet, where all four parts have to do something and not just the first violin, while the others provide the “underwood”…

Mozart, String Quintets in G minor K. 516 and C minor K. 406

Mozart, Duo for piano four-hands

Mozart/Bach Adagio and Fugue K. 404a Nos. 4 and 5

And again seven ensembles played in the second session, namely:

Brahms, Piano Quartet in C minor op. 60

Devienne, Trios for flute, clarinet and bassoon

Doppler, Andante and Rondo for two flutes and piano, and Joplin, Ragtime-Arr. for flute and piano

Marx, Marcello and others, songs for soprano and string quartet

Mozart, Duos for violin and viola, KV 423

Mozart, Piano quartet in G minor KV 478

Mozart, string quintets

The other movements of the piano quintets by Andrée and Bruch await acquaintance at further play-ins in the course of the year…

Five of us then rounded off the evening in a nearby restaurant with delicious food and lively conversation.