Blair Sanderson
AllMusic, USA
November 2015

The German Romantic composer Julius Reubke composed only a handful of works in his short life, but the two that are most often performed and hailed as his masterpieces are the Piano Sonata in B flat minor and the Organ Sonata on the 94th Psalm in C minor. These pieces won the admiration of no less a figure than Franz Liszt, who had been Reubke's staunchest supporter and teacher until his death from tuberculosis at age 24. These works, along with Reubke's piano transcription of the Adagio from the Organ Sonata, are the subject of this 2015 release on Hyperion, and they give an impression of a tragic Romantic figure struggling to find his voice, yet contending with the overwhelming influence of his mentor, Liszt, whose Piano Sonata in B minor was a model. Markus Becker's performances of both sonatas on piano (using August Stradal's transcription of the Organ Sonata) show sympathy and commitment, and Reubke's ideas and expressions come across as genuine, thanks to Becker's avoidance of showiness, which is a difficult thing to pull off in such effusive works.

AllMusic, USA