Works
Kahn composed prolifically for the chamber repertoire, writing in an intimate, lyrical style that is reminiscent of Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. Like his friend Brahms, Kahn eschewed the emotional extravagance of the late Romantics. His output included 2 piano quintets (besides the Quintett c-minor op.54 there is a Quintett in D-Major from 1926), 2 string quartets, 3 piano quartets, 5 piano trios, 2 violin sonatas, 2 cello sonatas, several choral pieces, and numerous lieder. Besides several pieces for choir and orchestra, his only purely instrumental orchestral works were a serenade Aus der Jugendzeit ("From Youth") (1890) and a Konzertstück for piano and orchestra in E-flat minor, Op. 74 (1920).
Kahn was often commissioned to create works for some of the finest musicians of the early decades of the 20th century up to the young Adolf Busch with whom Kahn performed the premier of his Suite op.69 for Violin and Piano. His first Violin Sonata in G minor was dedicated to Joseph Joachim who obviously asked to perform it when Kahn was still a young student in Berlin, and even Clara Schumann mentioned this Sonata in her diary. The second Violin Sonata, in A minor, Op. 26 (1897) was dedicated to the violinist Joseph Joachim, while the String Quartet No. 1 in A major, Op. 8 (1889) was first performed by the Joachim Quartett. The second was premiered by the Klingler Quartett - the successor of the Joachim Quartett. Finally his clarinet trio op.45 was dedicated to and performed by the famous clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld who also inspired Brahms's late chamber compositions. Hans von Bülow conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in the world premiere of Kahn's orchestral serenade.
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