The work of pianist Jörg Demus was one of the most important musical exports of Austria after the end of the Second World War. In addition to many other musical partners Demus also entertained a very fruitful collaboration with the established Salzburg violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger, which is documented on the occasion of his death aged 90 in April 2019 with this 3-CD collection with mostly unpublished recordings. In addition to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas no.1 in D major, op.12 no.1, no.5 in F major, op.24, and no.6 in A major, op.30 no.1 (CD 1), there are two Sonatas for violin and piano by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1016 and 1017), the Three Romances, op.94, by Robert Schumann and the famous Sonatina in G major, op.100, by Antonín Dvořák (CD 3). The fact that Jörg Demus, in addition to his extensive concert tours and engagements as lecturer, appeared also as a composer in the last decades of his life is only known to proven connoisseurs. On CD 2 one can hear his Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Op.7 “Gahberg Sonata”, Op.35 “Il tramonto” and Op.48 “Sonata sylvestre / Forest Sonata”.

Jörg Demus, born in St Pölten, Austria, on 2 December 1928 received his first piano lessons at the age of six and was allowed to enter the Vienna State Academy of Music when he was eleven. After completing these studies in Vienna, he went abroad to study with Yves Nat in Paris, then with Walter Gieseking in Saarbrücken, later with Wilhelm Kempff, Edwin Fischer and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. In the course of his life Jörg Demus has achieved a repertory of more than 350 LPs, compact discs, and video recordings. Several of Jörg Demus’s recordings were inspired by his passion of collecting old historic keyboard instruments. Jörg Demus died in Vienna on 16 April 2019.

Thomas Albertus Irnberger is among Austria’s leading violinists. The German specialist press wrote: “like hardly any
other young artist in his field, in recent years Irnberger has secured himself a leading position amongst Europe’s violinist
elite.” His recordings have regularly been the recipients of prizes and top rankings from the international press. Since
2008 Thomas Albertus Irnberger has devoted himself to research into and the rediscovery of “ostracised composers”,
and in Israel he played the first performance of the Violin Concerto by Hans Gál.