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Barber: String Quartet; Ives: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 / Escher String Quartet
BIS

Barber: String Quartet; Ives: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 / Escher String Quartet

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Details

Composer
BARBER IVES
Artist
ESCHER QUARTET
Format
SACD
Label
BIS
Released
Aug 06, 2021
Catalog #
BIS-2360
UPC
7318599923604

About

Previous releases from the New York-based Escher Quartet include an acclaimed set of Mendelsohn’s six string quartets as well as an album with works by Dvorák, Tchaikovsky and Borodin. For their latest offering the members have looked closer to home, however, choosing to combine the quartets by Samuel Barber and Charles Ives. The disc opens with Barber’s String Quartet in B minor, containing the music for which the composer remains best-known: the second movement which he two years later expanded into Adagio for Strings. Recognizing its potential already while composing it, Barber described the piece as ‘a knock-out’ – which made it all the more difficult to come up with a third movement worthy to follow it. In the end he decided to make the quartet a two-movement work, but the Eschers have here included the lively third movement that the composer discarded, offering the opportunity to hear the work as it was once planned. Barber is followed by the two full-scale quartets by Charles Ives, as well as a brief Scherzo. Like many other compositions by Ives, his First Quartet makes extensive use of revival and gospel hymns, quoting them in all four movements in a highly accessible tonal idiom. Far more challenging, the Second Quartet is a portrayal of ‘four men / who converse, discuss, argue ... fight, shake hands, shut up / then walk up the mountainside to view the firmament’ – a programme which invites a liberal use of dissonance, but also – towards the end – a particularly fulfilling resolution.

REVIEW:

Here's a nifty album of American chamber music that works on several levels. The Escher String Quartet offers a crisp reading of Barber's quartet as a whole that does not overdo the sentiment in the Adagio. There are also clear readings of Charles Ives' two string quartets, one broadly tonal, one conceptual and modern. So, a good choice for listeners wanting to broaden their appreciation of Barber and Ives, but the album also has much to offer those who have thought deeply about these composers. There is also a welcome performance of one of Ives' bracingly humorous Three Pieces for String Quartet, the second piece, "Hold Your Own!" In short, there is something for almost everyone in this fine release.


– AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)

Tracklist 12 tracks

  1. 1 I. Molto allegro e appassionato 08:01
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Molto allegro e appassionato
    Duration
    08:01
    Composer
    Samuel Barber
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  2. 2 II. Molto adagio - 08:09
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Molto adagio -
    Duration
    08:09
    Composer
    Samuel Barber
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  3. 3 III. Molto allegro - Presto 02:18
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Molto allegro - Presto
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Samuel Barber
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  4. 4 String Quartet, Op. 11: III. Andante mosso, un poco agitato - Allegro molto, alla breve (original final movement) 05:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    String Quartet, Op. 11: III. Andante mosso, un poco agitato - Allegro molto, alla breve (original final movement)
    Duration
    05:28
    Composer
    Samuel Barber
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  5. 5 I. Chorale 04:36
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Chorale
    Duration
    04:36
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  6. 6 II. Prelude 06:15
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Prelude
    Duration
    06:15
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  7. 7 III. Offertory 05:18
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Offertory
    Duration
    05:18
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  8. 8 IV. Postlude 05:14
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. Postlude
    Duration
    05:14
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  9. 9 A Set of 3 Short Pieces: II: Scherzo: Holding Your Own! (version for string quartet) 01:23
    Track
    9
    Title
    A Set of 3 Short Pieces: II: Scherzo: Holding Your Own! (version for string quartet)
    Duration
    01:23
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  10. 10 I. Conversations and Discussions 09:47
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. Conversations and Discussions
    Duration
    09:47
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  11. 11 II. Arguments 05:01
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Arguments
    Duration
    05:01
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet
  12. 12 III. The Call of the Mountains 11:10
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. The Call of the Mountains
    Duration
    11:10
    Composer
    Charles Ives
    Ensemble
    Escher String Quartet