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Supraphon

Vitezslav Novak: Complete String Quartets

$45.99

Details

Composer
Vitezslav Novak
Artist
Stamic Quartet, Jindrich Pazdera, Josef Kekula, Jan Peruska, Petr Hejny
Format
CD
Label
Supraphon
Released
Aug 15, 2025
Catalog #
SU4367-2
UPC
099925436728

About

Novak's complete quartets for the first time in the anointed hands of the Stamic Quartet For an impressive forty years, the Stamic Quartet (established in 1985) have been enjoying countless international successes both in concert performances and studio recordings. Just during the last fifteen years, the Supraphon label has released albums of the ensemble featuring the first recordings of the complete works for string quartet by J. B. Foerster (2010), Sofia Gubaidulina (2012), and Karel Kovarovic (2019). For the Stamic Quartet's fortieth anniversary, they have recorded this complete set of Vitezslav Novak's quartets, which also definitely completes the ensemble's remarkable list of recordings. Nearly forty years separate the First Quartet by Dvorak's 29-year-old pupil, inspired by the countryside of Moravia and Slovakia and by folk music, from the Third Quartet, with it's anxious premonitions of war. The works demonstrate a considerable stylistic shift in the composer's musical language. From the foundations of the musical traditions of Romanticism, through inspiration from Moravian and Slovak folklore, Novak arrived at a personal style with integral components including the church modes, the sonic world of Impressionism, a polyphonic sensibility for musical structure (as is clear from the extensive fugue of the Second Quartet), and rhythmic richness. The experienced Stamic Quartet is the first ensemble to record Novak's complete quartets, and it has done so with commitment that would be the envy of many young ensembles.

Tracklist 7 tracks

  1. 1 I. Allegro moderato 12:20
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro moderato
    Duration
    12:20
    Composer
    Vítězslav Novák
    Ensemble
    Stamic Quartet
  2. 2 II. Scherzo: Allegro comodo 05:37
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Scherzo: Allegro comodo
    Duration
    05:37
    Composer
    Vítězslav Novák
    Ensemble
    Stamic Quartet
  3. 3 III. Andante mesto - Allegro ben ritmico 11:02
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Andante mesto - Allegro ben ritmico
    Duration
    11:02
    Composer
    Vítězslav Novák
    Ensemble
    Stamic Quartet
  4. 4 I. Fuga: Largo misterioso 11:32
    Track
    4
    Title
    I. Fuga: Largo misterioso
    Duration
    11:32
    Composer
    Vítězslav Novák
    Ensemble
    Stamic Quartet
  5. 5 II. Fantasia: Allegro passionato 15:43
    Track
    5
    Title
    II. Fantasia: Allegro passionato
    Duration
    15:43
    Composer
    Vítězslav Novák
    Ensemble
    Stamic Quartet
  6. 6 I. Allegro risoluto 10:33
    Track
    6
    Title
    I. Allegro risoluto
    Duration
    10:33
    Composer
    Vítězslav Novák
    Ensemble
    Stamic Quartet
  7. 7 II. Lento doloroso 14:41
    Track
    7
    Title
    II. Lento doloroso
    Duration
    14:41
    Composer
    Vítězslav Novák
    Ensemble
    Stamic Quartet