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Compared to the output of Beethoven,
Schubert, Schumann and Brahms,
Mendelssohn’s production has been
neglected in the panorama of 19th-
century German chamber music, with
the exception, of course, of the famous
String Octet in E-flat Major
, Op. 20,
the stroke of genius of a 16-year-old
adolescent. Yet the chamber-music
legacy of the composer of the
Italian
Symphony
is full of treasures, including
the works for cello and piano which
mark an important stage in the
repertoire for string instruments.