The Rhine is the inspiration source to many romantic and folkloric works of music during the nineteenth century. Carl Reinecke, Richard Wagner and Max Bruch wrote, in their own romantic idiom, compositions about the Rhine. They shared a great affinity for the high romance of fairy tales, sagas, knight stories, folk music and mythology (including mythology of the Rhine); and were the musicalequivalent to the stories of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, or the medieval Nibelungenlied. The title of this CD has been chosen in honor of the composer whose lifework, Der Ring des Nibelungen, is dedicated to the gold of the Rhine. Presented on this new recordings are the Wesendonck-Lieder by Richard Wagner, the Serenade for Strings by Carl Reinecke, the Concerto for String Orchestra (Octet) by Max Bruch and Die Loreley by Friedrich Silcher. This recording is the third CD on Brilliant Classics of the Ciconia Consort, a Dutch string orchestra conducted by Dick van Gasteren, an internationally active conductor, who was Bernard Haitink’s assistant during the Mahler Festival Amsterdam in 1995. Their first CD for Brilliant Classics contained French music for string orchestra, and was met with enthusiastic critical acclaim, as was their CD “American Pioneers” with works by Antheil, Copland, Ives and Foote.