Premiere Recordings by Walter Braunfels. During the initial decades of the twentieth century Walter Braunfels (1882-1954) was one of Germany's most successful composers. However, when the Nazis seized power, his works, including his exceptionally popular Die Vögel (The Birds) suddenly disappeared from the theatres and concert halls. Braunfels had to professionally retire, but continued to compose, and this experience generated surprising creative energies in him. Among other things, towards the end of the war he discovered the opportunities offered by chamber music, which significantly broadened his horizons. Two quartets and a quintet for strings were the first fruits of this new experience, which was articulated in a fascinatingly independent style: the highly expressive String Quintet (1944-45), heard on this disc in an arrangement by Braunfels's pupil Frithjof Haas, and the virtuosic Sinfonia concertante (1946-47).