A native of Frankfurt, Anton Urspruch was a student of Joachim Raff, later becoming one of Liszt’s favourite protégés. Urspruch’s style was more aligned with Mendelssohn and Beethoven, however, and he proclaimed that ‘you can’t understand modern music if you don’t understand Bach’. The Cavatine und Arabeske are delightful salon pieces, while the Variationen form an extensive canvas that revels in contrasting moods and constructional ingenuity. The short but emotionally packed Cinq Morceaux stand at the apex and final flowering of purely Romantic pianism in Europe.