Sergei Taneyev lived in the second half of the 19th and early 20th century. He was born in an aristocratic family near Moscow, in 1856. He was connected to many of the major composers of the day, but was not always friendly to them. He was notoriously sharp in his critiques, even though they were sometimes asked. He was also romantically involved with Tchaikovsky for a while.
His opus 20 is a piano quartet in E, composed in the Summer of 1906. It is a good example of Taneyev’s particular mix of strict structure of Bach, mixed with the harmonics of Brahms. Add to that some Russian soul and you can imagine how this sounds. This was also at the core of arguments he had with Tchaikovsky: where Tchaikovsky’s creations show a wild creativity and warmth, Taneyev’s breath a strong sense of structure. Here performed by an American ensemble that was active in the 70s and early 80s.