Louis Spohr's inventive streak is evident in his creation of the double quartet, a novel form that opened the string octet to new textural, antiphonal, and contrapuntal possibilities. However, like many of Spohr's other chamber experiments, his strategies occasionally led him into unintended compositional difficulties, and his results were most successful when he put aesthetic considerations over cleverness. Spohr's showy writing for the first violin, flamboyant and widespread in the Double Quartet No. 1, caused unevenness in the ensemble's balance and exposed the bareness of the other parts.

For most listeners this will be off the beaten track. I urge anyone who loves chamber music to invest in this set. It will bring much pleasure. Spohr was an excellent melodist, and his harmonic changes are delightful. His use of diverse instruments is expert, adding to the joy of hearing these four works. This is not deep or angry music; instead, we have the charm of the first movement of the String Sextet; the beauty, simple and touching, of the Adagio from the Piano Quintet, op. 130; the extraordinary invention of the second theme of the Finale of the Piano Quintet with winds, op. 52; and much more. There is something special in his use of resources in the Piano Septet.