World Premiere Recording
Norman O'Neill (1875 to 1934) was a highly successful and influential British composer who studied at Dr Hoch's Conservatoire in Frankfurt from 1893 to 1897 and became the most important composer of incidental music for the Theatre in the first decades of the 20th century.
By chance, young English-speaking people met in the years 1890 to 1910 in the composition class at Dr. Hoch's conservatory in Frankfurt.
The "Frankfurt Group" as they became known, participated in the spirit of optimism of the Fin de Siecle, and yet everyone drew their own conclusions.
Today, the members of Ensemble Color teach at the conservatory themselves and went in search of traces of their predecessors.
For this first recording, the ensemble dedicates itself to the works of Norman O'Neill - a remarkable expansion of the repertoire that arouses curiosity for more.
He shares his musical lineage with Roger Quilter and Percy Grainger, but also with Ernst Toch, Hans Pfitzner and Ernest Bloch. His music is of the highest quality and supreme elegance, and there are many treasures to be discovered here.
O'Neill published a great number of art songs as well as chamber and piano music with the leading publishers of his time.
This meritorious discovery impressively proves that even at the beginning of the 20th century, a scandal is by no means necessary to create something new and individual. It will be interesting to see what other hidden treasures can be found in the Frankfurt Group's collection.
