The music of Moisey (Mieczysław) Weinberg is one of the most beautiful pages of genuine but, alas, unwritten music history of the 20th century. A composer whose life knew many tragic twists and turns, who found himself on the junction of three cultures – Polish, Jewish and Russian, one of the best pupils, friends and followers of Dmitri Shostakovich, reflected the great perturbations of his time in music but did it in an inimitable manner of his creative self combining a sharp character of his music language and a fine, crystal clear form.
Melodiya presents the best examples of Weinberg's chamber music. His piano quintet composed during WWII and eighth quartet (1959), a one-movement piece filled with inner contrasts, unintentionally call up associations with Shostakovich's brightest chamber opuses composed during the same years (his piano trio and Quartet No. 8 dedicated "to the victims of fascism and war"). However, even a superficial introduction to Weinberg's works makes us reject any thought of imitation, that is how evident Weinberg's individuality in these compositions despite all spiritual nearness of the teacher's and pupil's creations. The composer's style appears in a perfectly mature artistic form.
Weinberg's compositions are performed by the original lineup of The Borodin Quartet, an outstanding chamber ensemble of this country (the composer dedicated his eighth quartet to them). In the quintet, the author who graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory plays the piano.
