Amedee Reuchsel (1875-1931) was born in the French city of Lyon. He came from a musical family, his father Leon Reuchsel was a leading organist in Lyon. After studying with his father, he entered the Brussels Conservagtory where he studied organ and also composition with Eduard Tinel. He then went to Paris to take further lessons from Gabriel Faure. He worked as an organist in Lyon and then in Paris at one of its leading churches. In 1908, the same year he completed his Sextet for winds and piano, he won the prestigious Chartier Prize of chamber music.

As noted, the Sextet dates from 1908. It is in three movements. The opening movement begins with a short Andante non troppo introduction in which the horn takes the lead. The main section, Allegro commodo, is bright and celebratory. The middle movement, Allegro deciso, has upbeat, march-like quality. The finale, begins with a dreamy Andante, which after a considerable time is followed by a lively Allegro which has a fugal quality. This is a fine work in which all of the instruments, including the piano, are treated equally and are given very generous parts which show off their individual qualities.

We also offer Ludwig Thuille's Sextet,  Paul Juon's Divertimento, Theodor Blumer's Sextet, Albert Roussel's Divertissement and Hans Huber's Sextet for this same instrumental combination. They make finely contrasing companion works..