The rediscovery of the three Sérénades for flute and strings by the Franco-German Romantic Théodore Gouvy (1819–98) – two of them commissioned by the Philharmonic Club of New York – brings a welcome expansion to the repertoire of nineteenth-century chamber music for flute.

Gouvy’s charming melodic language disguises the expert craftsmanship of a composer who, not belonging to any national school, has not had the attention his warm-hearted music deserves. Gouvy’s music is now being rediscovered for the first time in a century, with a symphonic cycle underway on CPO. All the music on this CD is receiving its first recording.

Markus Brönnimann has been principal flute of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra since 1998. He has been exploring the chamber-music repertoire for flute from his early days and now performs in a number of groups in Europe and further afield. He has arranged a number of works – by Debussy, Mozart, Krommer, Pierné and Ravel – for the group, in pursuit of his basic concern to expand the flute repertoire.

The Kreisler Quartet was formed in Luxembourg in 2009. Already in its short career it has appeared in concerts and festivals in several European countries, including France, Germany and Luxembourg, where it performed at the prestigious chamber music hall of the Philharmonie.

Ilka Emmert, double bass, plays in the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern and has toured America, Asia and Europe as a member of different ensembles.

Michael Kleiser, piano, is active as an accompanist and chamber musician in Zurich, where he is also Korrepetitor at the Hochschule für Musik.