Wilhelm Goldner (1839–1907) was one of the many composer-pianists who populated European musical life in the nineteenth century. Born in Hamburg, six years after Brahms, he trained in Leipzig and made his name and his living in Paris, where his attractive and easy-going music became a favourite of the salons. His first Suite moderne for piano duet, written in 1875, proved so popular that his publisher asked for more, and over the next twelve years Goldner composed five further Suites modernes. Although all six were reprinted in 1904 (by Universal in Vienna, no less), they have long since slipped from sight, and these first recordings restore their charms to modern audiences.