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SaleEberl: Rediscovered - 3 String quartets, Op.13 / casalQuartett
Solo Musica · Apr 2022CD$20.99$10.49 -
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SalePaganini: Complete Quartets for String Trio & Guitar, Vol. 1
Brilliant Classics · May 2023CD$18.99$9.49 -
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Dvorak: String Quintet & Piano Quintet / Masurenko, Triendl, Vogler Quartett
CPO · Sep 2016CD$18.99 -
Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 6
SOMM Recordings
CD
$20.99
May 18, 2018
An exciting new collaboration between Somm Recordings and the Tippett Quartet begins with striking performances of early and late string quartets by Mendelssohn. Fiercely imbued with the spirit of Beethoven, Mendelssohn's Opp. 12, 13 and 80 quartets brim and boil with an innovation, dynamism, emotional sincerity and technical flair some would deny the composer. These deeply felt performances from the Tippett Quartet present Mendelssohn in a new light and challenge Hans von Bülow's notorious observation that he "began as a genius and ended as a talent." All three quartets - Op. 13, composed when Mendelssohn was just 18-years-old, and Op. 80, his last major work, completed two months before his death at 38 - speak movingly of loss. Op. 12 laments the passing of Beethoven, Op. 13 regrets unrequited love, Op. 80 an inconsolable response to the death of Mendelssohn's sister, Fanny. The earlier works, the Tippett Quartet says, "command an astounding expressive power and technical prowess with all the exuberance and intensity of a young man searching for the sublime and the profound." Mendelssohn's last significant musical utterance, the valedictory Op. 80, "turns his sense of loss, grief and, most of all, anger into a truly sublime work of art". "When we were recording them, " says the Tippett Quartet, "it felt like we were playing brand new pieces by a living composer, not works that carry, and have become burdened by, the weight of tradition". These poignant, powerful, emotionally raw, musically rich performances make persuasive claim for music of passion, poetry and profundity and offer fresh insights into Mendelssohn as he was meant to be played.
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 7
Audite Musikproduktion
SACD
$21.99
Feb 03, 2017
The Quartetto di Cremona have completed another stage in their adventurous journey through the cosmos of Beethoven's String Quartets, visiting the Quartet in G major from the Op. 18 set and the last of the Op. 59 Quartets. The performance culture and market for the string quartet in the late eighteenth century was markedly different to that of later times: the young Beethoven wrote his Quartets Op. 18 for amateurs. The G major Quartet, the second in the collection, was one such work that could bemastered by talented aristocrats and bourgeois connoisseurs - which is not tosay that its complexities or musical challenges are in any way diminished. With the so-called "Razumovsky" Quartets,the string quartet reached adulthood. And one only needs to compare the technical and intellectual demands of Op. 59 to contemporary works (such as the quartets of the young Franz Schubert) in order to recognise that Beethoven no longer composed for able amateurs, but for highly professional specialists.This becomes particularly obvious in the finale, an extended and extremely virtuosic fugue. The Quartetto di Cremona have combined these two works from Beethoven's early and middle periods for the seventh volume in their Complete Beethoven String Quartets recording series. Both works end with an "earworm" - one in the classical spirit and one in the form of a rapid fugue - finale furioso!
Quartet Integra
Yarlung Records
CD
$21.99
Nov 21, 2025
... four of the brightest young stars in classical music today. We are enjoying another golden era thanks to Quartet Integra. -Martin Beaver, First Violin, Tokyo String Quartet Producer's notes: Yarlung Records returned to Zipper Hall at Colburn School in April, 2025 to record the debut album for Quartet Integra toward the end of the quartet's 3-year residency in Los Angeles. They had just returned from acclaimed performances in Wigmore Hall in London. The quartet left again after our recording for summer concerts (and a little bit of family time) in Asia before moving to Paris and Hannover in the autumn. Quartet Integra begins a two year residency in Paris at the Centre Europeen de Musique de Chambre and will continue study with Oliver Wille at the Hochschule fur Musik, Theater, und Medien in Hannover. We will miss the Quartet badly in Los Angeles and hope they return soon. This extraordinary young ensemble, Kyoka Misawa and Rintaro Kikuno on violins, Itsuki Yamamoto on viola, and cellist Ye Un Park play Classical, Romantic, Contemporary and Renaissance music equally well. In fact, we explore all four eras in this recording. We begin with Beethoven's last published work, String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Opus 135, written in 1826. Beethoven wrote this piece at the height of his Romantic powers, but the quartet looks back with irony and nostalgia to his classical period. Next, Quartet Integra tackles Ligeti's 1968 ground-breaking Sonata No. 2, which they played for me at their audition and which won me over immediately. Kyoka, Rintaro, Itsuki and Ye Un find beauty and repose in this seat-belts-required 25-minute work full of extended techniques and mid-20th-Century sound world while communicating humor and transcendent energy. Kyoka said "When people hear the name Ligeti, many tend to associate it with contemporary music and assume it will be difficult to listen to. But in reality, that's not the case. Especially the String Quartet No. 2, which we're performing this time - it's wild and destructive, yet it holds a kind of breathtaking beauty. It feels almost like watching a movie." Mike Wechsberg, an audience member at our special live concert recording session commented heartily how "Ligeti is not the sort of music I normally like, but THIS was magnificent! Bravo Quartet Integra!" We ended the concert with Green Mountains, Now Black, a new piece by David S. Lefkowitz which he completed in the spring of 2025. Donna Morton commissioned David's piece for Yarlung Artists and Quartet Integra through Yarlung's sister organization Coretet. Donna and her group have steadfastly supported new chamber music including from composers Caroline Shaw, Diego Schissi (who won a Latin GRAMMY® nomination for Nene, which he wrote for Yarlung's Sibelius Piano Trio), Jamie Thierman, Eric Nathan and Benjamin Taylor among others. Donna serves on the boards of both Yarlung Artists and Coretet, and we relished the opportunity to collaborate again as Coretet celebrates it's 10th Anniversary and Yarlung celebrates it's 20th. Beethoven wrote his last major composition, String Quartet Op. 135, in 1826. This was his final statement in his groundbreaking series. Opus 135 premiered in 1828, performed by Ignaz Schuppanzigh and his famous ensemble, a year after Beethoven died. When the members of Quartet Integra suggested we record this work on their debut album instead of Schubert's "Rosamunda" Quartet written only two years earlier, I initially demurred. Who needs yet another superb performance of Beethoven's final masterpiece?" I complained. "Who needs yet another Rosamunda?" Quartet Integra 'cellist Ye Un Park responded within milliseconds. She had a point, and I'm glad we recorded the Beethoven instead, at least on Quartet Integra's first Yarlung album! The ensemble had just performed Beethoven's first string quartet in London's Wigmore Hall in London, as well as "Rosamunda, " and they were game to expand their horizons and capitalize on their "Beethoven High." They also wanted to utilize the superb acoustics at Colburn School while the quartet was still living in Los Angeles, and we knew Zipper Hall would do the Beethoven special justice. Our recording concludes with David S. Lefkowitz' Green Mountains, Now Black. David's piece offers quotations from Monteverdi's earliest extant opera Orfeo (one of my favorites in the operatic literature) and additional quotations from Monteverdi's final opera The Coronation of Poppea, including it's magical and ever-so recognizable love duet between Poppea and the emperor Nero at the end of the opera. Instead of merely transposing my favorite arias, choral passages and this famous duet for string quartet, David wrote a work that explores the very nature of what it means to be a string quartet. And he experiments with the genre, pushes boundaries, and incorporates his own despair witnessing the burning of much of Los Angeles in the spring of 2025. David and his wife Laurie could see flames and smoke not too far away from their home as he composed this work. Nero himself famously allowed a good chunk of downtown Rome to burn, exercising (and bragging about) his dubious leadership in the process. David layers Octavia's farewell to her beloved city with the giddy love duet between Octavia's husband, the emperor, and his mistress Poppea, to tell the story of David's own distress while writing the piece. Green Mountains, Now Black not only refer to Monteverdi himself (Green Mountain) but the fire which turned so many of our spring green mountains to char in Los Angeles. Despite David's gloom and worry during our fires, his iridescent string writing shows itself proudly and his many glorious and lyrical passages outnumber the darker ones. As musicians, the members of Quartet Integra communicate superbly with audiences and with each other as they explore the depths and details of these musical scores. With generous support from Sel, Nick and Martin at Colburn School, we worked with Quartet Integra on April 13-15, 2025 and ended our recording session with a live concert for invited guests from the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society on April 15th. You can enjoy videos of this concert on YouTube's YarlungChannel. Fellow recording engineer and equipment designer Arian Jansen and I used SonoruS Holographic Imaging technology in the analog domain to refine the stereo image, Yarlung's SonoruS ATR12 to record Agfa-formula 468 analog tape, the Merging Technologies HAPI to record 256fs DSD in stereo and surround sound and the SonoruS ADC to record PCM. We used our friend Ted Ancona's AKG C24 microphone previously owned by Frank Sinatra, and Yarlung Audio vacuum tube microphone amplification designed and built by Elliot Midwood. In closing, it was Donna Morton and Martin Beaver who suggested Yarlung support Quartet Integra and Martin coordinated their audition. The Quartet has been lauded as the most exciting ensemble to emerge from Japan (and Ye Un from Korea) since the famous Tokyo String Quartet formed in 1969 at Juilliard. I love a certain symmetry here: two of the non-Japanese born musicians playing as members of the Tokyo String Quartet were Yarlung Special Advisor Martin Beaver, who became principal violin in 2002, and Clive Greensmith, who joined Tokyo as cellist in 1999. Both Martin and Clive performed with the Tokyo Quartet until the ensemble gave their final concerts in 2013, and now Martin and Clive co-direct Chamber Music at Colburn School and have mentored the four members of Quartet Integra. Before their Colburn residency, Quartet Integra won a four-year fellowship with Suntory Hall's Chamber Music Academy where they were coached by Tokyo Quartet members Koichiro Harada, Kikuei Ikeda and Kazuhide Isomura. This is generational integrity and communication worthy of Kyoka, Rintaro, Itsuki and Ye Un. As we celebrate Yarlung's 20th Anniversary, we are enjoying thinking back to our original inspiration. We began working with young musicians starting international concert careers and sharing their transformative performances with the world. Yarlung Records takes it's name from the Yarlung Valley in Central Tibet, which legend holds as a meeting place between heaven and earth. It is in this valley, at the site of Yambulakhang Castle in our Yarlung Records logo, where Heaven and Earth touched in order to transform humanity. What could be a better metaphor for the transformative power of great music? I feel a deep connection between this mythical name for our record label and Quartet Integra. Hearing them play and working with these four good-natured and talented people reminded me why we created Yarlung Records in the first place. Despite my earlier comment, Quartet Integra is not a Japanese ensemble. Three of their members come from Japan and one from Korea, but they are inherently international. Quartet Integra lived in California these past years, and as indicated will spend the next several years in France and Germany. Their ties to the famous Tokyo String Quartet increase the Japanese-ness of Quartet Integra, but Tokyo String Quartet was actually founded in 1969 at Juilliard in New York City, not Japan. In planning their album cover, this image of the Toyosaki Kompira Shrine Torii Gate on the west coast of Hokkaido jumped out at us, and reflected Quartet Integra's refreshing vitality. As does the inspiration for the name of Yarlung Records, a Torii gate symbolizes a portal to the sacred in Shintoism connecting everyday reality with transcendence. -Bob Attiyeh, producer
Beethoven: Middle String Quartets
Challenge Classics
CD
$19.99
Jan 17, 2025
Second volume of Narratio Quartet complete survey of Beethoven's string quartets. This 2CD set gathers together the three complex Quartets op. 59 and the more accessible Quartet op.74. Early Music Review about CC 72969 (Early String Quartets): The quartet's name refers to the art of rhetoric, the projection of which is tellingly apparent in these marvellously communicative performances.
Beethoven: The Early String Quartets / Cypress String Quartet
Avie Records
CD
$20.99
May 06, 2016
The Cypress String Quartet completes their cycle of the genre’s greatest oeuvre with a two-album set of Beethoven’s six ground-breaking quartets, Op. 18, alongside a reissue of their previously self-released recording of the late quartets. For the past several seasons, the Cypresses have immersed themselves in performing Beethoven on tours throughout the United States and Europe as well as recording all 16 works plus the “Grande Fugue” (Große Fuge). The completion of their Beethoven cycle is a fitting celebration of the Bay Area-based ensemble’s 20th anniversary as well as their valedictory season.
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 6
Audite Musikproduktion
SACD
$21.99
Aug 12, 2016
For this sixth volume in Quartetto di Cremona’s exploration of the complete Beethoven String Quartets, the ensemble tackles the String Quartet in A major, Op. 18, No. 5, and the String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130, pairing an early piece and a late piece to give some insight into the composer’s development. In both of these compositions, Beethoven’s incorporation of folk music can be seen. In other aspects, these two works are vastly different, the earlier showing his enthusiastic and uplifting style, and the later showing his passionate and sometimes brooding methods. Quartetto di Cremona has been internationally lauded for their “extremely mature and lyrical sound.” (Strad) The group formed at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona in 2000, and since then has acquired an extensive repertoire.
Donizetti: String Quartets / Quartetto Delfico
Brilliant Classics
CD
$13.99
Apr 21, 2023
Knowing where to drop the needle on the string quartets of Donizetti presents more of a challenge than exploring the lasting treasures of his vast catalogue of operas, where posterity has already established a pecking order with Lucia di Lammermoor at its head. But Donizetti was more than a pioneer of bel canto, and the Quartetto Delfico present new recordings of three of the later and most richly developed examples of his mastery as a chamber-music composer, which sound no less assured and distinctive than his works for the stage. The opening movement of No. 15 in F major plays teasingly with the famous opening melody of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 (much as Shostakovich did in the finale of his Second Violin Concerto, a century and a half later), draining it of anxiety and infusing a bright-eyed joie de vivre instead.
This sunny mood spills over into the lyrical Andante. Haydn would no doubt have smiled at Donizetti’s ingenuity in developing the material for the Minuet from little more than the open strings of the ensemble, and the finale’s introduction springs a surprise worthy of the older master of the string quartet, turning unexpectedly to the minor and then racing off with the visceral drama of an act-finale from one of his operatic tragedies. Nos. 17 and 18 are both even more substantial and compelling works in their ways, composed in 1825 and 1836 respectively; the first movement of No.18 in E minor was later reused in the opening sinfonia of Linda de Chamounix in 1842. They continue to refine Donizetti’s Haydnesque inclination towards economy of means and singularity of gesture. The first movement of No.17 creates a terse drama from thematic questions and answers, and its ostensible D major key is continually belied by harmonic stress and strain. Finally, in No.18, Donizetti fully embraces the potential for the quartet as a medium of musical tragedy as potent as any abandoned heroine. This is a half-hour piece as ambitious and surprising as any of the mature quartets by his great predecessors in the medium, notable not just for an extended slow movement but also the nervous energy of its minuet.
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) certainly owes his fame and success to his operatic output (L'Elisir d'amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, La figlia del reggimento), but few know that he was also a prolific composer of string quartets, and was certainly the most important Italian composer of the genre in the nineteenth century. In fact, Donizetti wrote as many as 18 complete quartets between 1817 and 1836. From a formal, aesthetic point of view, Donizetti is a classical composer in every way. The great masters represented a point of reference for him, a model he could refer to. Nevertheless, he never imitated them tout-court. The differences between Donizetti's compositional choices and Viennese style are quite distinct in formal structure, distribution of the parts, and musical quality. This may be attributed to his personal theatrical genius, to the extent that one can almost recognize real Donizettian opera scenes among the pages of these quartets.
This CD presents the String Quartets Nos. 15, 17 and 18, fully mature masterworks of their genre. Performed with obvious enthusiasm and taste by the Italian Quartetto Delfico, who previously recorded for Brilliant Classics string quartets by Manfredini (94786).
Eberl: Rediscovered - 3 String quartets, Op.13 / casalQuartett
Solo Musica
CD
$10.49
$20.99
Save 50%
Apr 15, 2022
In the course of their research for the five-part recording production "Beethoven's World 1799-1851" (2020), the casalQuartett came across not only Carl Czerny, one of Beethoven's two pupils, represented by his 28th String Quartet in A flat major, but also the Viennese composer Anton Eberl (1765-1807), who was Mozart's friend and pupil. As an outstanding pianist and composer, he achieved great popularity and, after returning to Vienna from St. Petersburg, had even more prominent supporters than Beethoven. His life ended unexpectedly at the zenith of his success in 1807. His music, as can be seen in the excellent recordings of the symphonies by Concerto Köln and the piano sonatas by Luca Quintavalle, is often surprisingly modern for its time. Like Mozart's late works and those of the new Beethoven, they augur the revolutionary dawn of Romanticism. The casalQuartett has received numerous awards, including the ECHO KLASSIK 2010, 2015, 2017, the Pizzicato Award Luxembourg, the DIAPASON Decouverte, the DIAPASON d'Or, the German Record Critics' Award and has been nominated three times for the ICMA Award and the American Grammy.
Haydn: String Quartets Op. 76 1-3 / Kodaly Quartet
Naxos
CD
$19.99
Mar 15, 1990
"The Kodaly Quartet are fully worthy of the composer's inexhaustible invention and make a splendid bargain recommendation. Their playing brings joyful pleasure in Haydn's inspiration and there is not the slightest suspicion of over-rehearsal or of routine: every bar of the music springs to life spontaneously, and these musicians' insights bring an ideal combination of authority and warmth, emotional balance and structural awareness."
Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]
Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]
Webern, Gielen: Works For String Quartet / Artis Quartet
Sony Masterworks
CD
$17.99
Jun 02, 2008
"Webern’s chamber music for strings stretches throughout his career, from the lushly Romantic Slow Movement of 1905, through the vividly expressionist Five Movements completed four years later, to the lucidly canonic String Quartet of 1938. On the way, there are an early single-movement Quartet that shows the influence of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, the aphoristic Bagatelles, Op. 9 (‘Every glance can be stretched out into a poem, every sigh into a novel,’ wrote Schoenberg in his preface to the score, ‘but to express a novel in a single gesture, a joy in a single intake of breath – such concentration is found only where self-pity is lacking to a corresponding degree’)...The Emerson takes a broader view of the 1905 Slow Movement than the Artis Quartet, which sounds a little impatient with the piece. Elsewhere, however, the Artis is more than able to hold its own against the polished playing of its American rival – indeed, the warmth of the performances on this newcomer inclines me to put it forward as a first choice...Urgently recommended."
-- BBC Music Magazine Reviewing Nimbus 5668
-- BBC Music Magazine Reviewing Nimbus 5668
Antonin Dvorak: String Quartets No. 10 & 13
SWR
CD
$20.99
Oct 09, 2015
Founded 1998, the Bennewitz Quartet, from the Czech Republic, have become one of the classical music world's top international chamber ensembles, a status confirmed not only by prestigious competition victories but also by the acclaim of the critics. Having recently recorded an all-Dvorák program on two CDs (Cypresses) for hanssler in 2012, the ensemble returns to the music of this Bohemian/American master with two quartets for strings, both of which are important milestones in the composer's œuvre: No. 10 in E-flat Major, op. 51, and No. 13 in G Major, op. 106.
Campagnoli: 6 Flute Quartets / Il Demetrio
Brilliant Classics
CD
$13.99
Mar 23, 2018
Bartolomeo Campagnoli was a violinist by training, who worked in the courts and capitals of Baroque-era Europe, with posts in Rome, Dresden and then in Leipzig, where he was leader of the venerable Gewandhaus orchestra. Thus most of his own compositions are for strings, focused on his own instrument, and often with pedagogical or commercial aims in mind, such as the 41 Capricci for solo viola and the 7 Divertimenti for solo violin. There is also an extensive Method – in 132 separate lessons! – which was first published by Ricordi in 1797, and reprinted and translated many times. It was around this time that he wrote the six delightful, serenade-like works on this album, scored for flute and string trio. Often the flute engages in vivacious dialogue with the upper voice of the trio, within the tradition of similar works by Tartini, Rolla and Mercadante. The predominant mood is light, the expression airy and untroubled. The exception to this is the Fourth Sonata in E minor – the only minor-key quartet of the set, and the only one cast in three movements, with a central Andante grazioso of a suave gravity that would not have disgraced the young Mozart. Founded by the violinist Maurizio Schiavo, the ensemble Il Demetrio is a historically informed chamber group specializing in music of the Baroque era, undertaking much original research of their own to unearth little-known compositions from Italian libraries.
Persichetti: String Quartets / Lydian String Quartet
Centaur Records
CD
$18.99
Nov 01, 2006
PERSICHETTI String Quartets: Nos. 1–4 • Lydian Str Qrt • CENTAUR 2833 (76:44)
The creative legacy of Vincent Persichetti (1915–1987) comprises a large and extremely varied body of work, much of it still barely known to even the musically sophisticated public. Among his less frequently heard works are his four string quartets, which span the period 1939–1972. Fairly evenly spaced throughout his productive life, they represent most facets of his enormous compositional range. However, not represented by the string quartets is his most ingratiating vein: the lively, diatonic, largely consonant sub-style found in his most popular works, many of those composed during the 1950s for wind ensemble and for piano solo. The aspects of his style represented by these string quartets are found in their most austere manifestations. Therefore, though most are masterful works, not to be overlooked by anyone with a serious interest in this extremely important but currently under-rated composer, they are definitely not the music one would select as an enticement for the general listener.
The String Quartet No. 1 dates from 1939, when Persichetti was still seeking a distinctive creative voice of his own. Many of his works from this period, such as the Piano Sonata No. 2, Sonata for Violin Solo, and the Sonata for Two Pianos, are quite dissonant harmonically and attenuated tonally—especially as viewed within the context of American music at that time—but without a depth of expression commensurate with the severity of the language. For me this is not a winning combination, and I find these pieces, including the String Quartet No. 1, to be among the composer’s less successful efforts. Two of the quartet’s four relatively short movements—the two faster ones—display a mercurial energy that is somewhat engaging. But the other two movements—almost Schoenbergian in their willful angularity—offer little appeal.
The String Quartet No. 2 is probably the easiest to approach, as its materials are largely modal and diatonic, although it is not by any means a romp. Composed in 1944, it may be viewed in the context of such contemporaneous pieces as the Piano Sonata No. 3 and the Symphony No. 3. These compositions are overtly “American-sounding” in their materials, and strongly influenced by devices and principles found in the music of Roy Harris—self-directed (autogenetic) formal designs rather than classical models, and much use of parallelism (organum). In addition to its generally lighter tone, the quartet includes some curious reminiscences from Beethoven, most obviously the Grosse Fuga . (Quotations—from his own works as well as those of others—form one of many cryptic aspects of Persichetti’s creative personality.)
The 1950s were Persichetti’s most fertile decade, and the period when his own distinctive compositional voice emerged most clearly. The 40-odd pieces from this decade may be readily divided into two sub-categories: those that are highly accessible, often intended to appeal to younger musicians, and those that are quite challenging. String Quartet No. 3, composed in 1959, falls into this latter group, along with the Concerto for Piano Four Hands, Symphony No. 5, Piano Sonata No. 10, and Piano Quintet. (This Third Quartet even makes some explicit reference to the Fifth Symphony.) All five are multisectional works, each integrated into one movement based on a single theme usually introduced at the outset. These works—though often largely atonal and dense with significant substance—achieve a masterful fluidity and lucidity of contrapuntal motivic development that can capture a listener’s interest on first hearing, and sustain it through deeper study and analysis. In fact, these five works are arguably Persichetti’s greatest compositions, although among them, the Quartet No. 3 is probably the most austere and difficult to penetrate, owing to its 12-tone theme, its often-glassy sonorities, and the abstraction of the medium. But it is a brilliant work—one that rewards attentive and repeated listening; it is probably my own favorite among Persichetti’s string quartets.
The Quartet No. 4 dates from 1972, when Persichetti was seeking to embrace a number of the newer compositional devices appearing in the works of younger composers, and integrate them into his vast musical language. These pieces elevate such elements as gesture and texture to the status of musical ideas, subject to their own intensive development, while avoiding discernible tonality except in the most isolated—although often quite structurally significant—moments. This was also a time when Persichetti was preoccupied with his series of Parables , 25 pieces that he defined enigmatically as “non-programmatic musical essays about a single germinal idea. They convey a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison or analogies.” Most of the Parables are short studies written for monophonic instruments, but some are larger works for fuller forces. And some of these bear other designations, their inclusion among the Parables indicated by subtitle. For example, Persichetti’s sole opera, The Sibyl , is subtitled, “Parable XX.” Similarly, the String Quartet No. 4, completed the same year as the frequently played Parable IX for band, is subtitled, “Parable X.” In a sense, this work is a conceptual expansion of the previous quartet, relying less completely on linear contrapuntal development, while embracing texture and gesture as primary elements, as noted above, often exhibiting contrapuntal relationships of their own. Though its rarefied, ethereal sonorities, fragmentary textures, and lack of perceptible tonality may seem somewhat forbidding upon initial acquaintance, Persichetti usually maintains a discernible metrical pulse that functions as an internal anchor, while the ongoing developmental processes remain lucid and coherent.
To its credit, Centaur does not bill this new release as “First Recordings.” Presumably, it is aware that 30 years ago Persichetti’s four string quartets were issued on a two-LP set that featured the New Art String Quartet, then in residence at Arizona State University. This was a beautifully performed and handsomely packaged and annotated set, produced by composer David Cohen (who had been a student of Persichetti) and was available only from Arizona State directly. Unfortunately, that set probably found its way into only a handful of collections—I’ve never met anyone who even knew of it! I’ve often thought that those recordings ought to be reissued on CD, what with the broader means of dissemination available today via the Internet. Perhaps this new Centaur release preempts the need for such a reissue. There is no question but that the Lydian String Quartet plays with considerably more polish, precision, and confidence, and the quality of recording is significantly superior as well. However, in an ideal world, I’d still like to see the Arizona set reissued, simply as another—and quite respectable—take on the music. Perhaps of lesser importance to most listeners, Cohen’s program notes were more astute than are those by the Lydian’s first-violinist Daniel Stepner; and there is an excellent photo of the composer gracing the Arizona jacket, while Centaur offers no photo of Persichetti.
FANFARE: Walter Simmons
Paganini: Complete Quartets for String Trio & Guitar, Vol. 1
Brilliant Classics
CD
$9.49
$18.99
Save 50%
May 26, 2023
The Quartets in this 3-CD set are not in chronological or catalogue order because the full cycle of 15 Quartets will be realized with a second upcoming 3-CD release, and it was decided instead to create a common thread with the tonalities and musical development among the quartets.
Boccherini: Flute Quintets G 437-442 / Rampal, Et Al
Sony Masterworks
CD
$17.99
Feb 01, 2008
These quintets come from a set of six in a Madrid manuscript with an attribution to Boccherini: they are not in Boccherini’s own catalogue of his works, which doesn’t necessarily exclude their authenticity (he noted in it most of his true chamber music, though not the cello sonatas or the keyboard ones); they sound as if they date from the 1780s, and the presence of an obbligato cello part does of course imply at least some link with him. This is claimed as their world premiere recording.
They are very agreeable and on the whole deftly written pieces, but to my mind don’t quite have the ring of his style: their formal regularity, their sometimes motivic writing (the first movement of the G major work, for example), and the frequent spells of rather routine invention argue against his authorship, as does the three-movement form (he preferred, oddly, two-movement opere piccole or four-movement opere grande), the absence of minuets (a movement type he patently relished) and the presence of three very schematic variation finales (a type he avoided). The compiler of the Boccherini thematic catalogue thought that they had “formulas and turns of style which are characteristic of him”, on reading through the parts, but since he evidently didn’t notice that they were for flute, violin, viola and two cellos (as opposed to flute and string quartet) I am inclined to think the reading-through wasn’t too rigorous.
By Boccherini or not, they make pleasant listening. They don’t demand that special affection for detail or feeling for texture that the most characteristic Boccherini needs, and respond well to these direct, modern performances, neatly phrased, the dialogues gracefully executed. The first cellist, who has several flights into the upper reaches of his instrument, is very assured, and there is also the particular pleasure of Jean-Pierre Rampal’s flute playing, as urbane as ever.
-- Stanley Sadie. Gramophone [8/1998]
They are very agreeable and on the whole deftly written pieces, but to my mind don’t quite have the ring of his style: their formal regularity, their sometimes motivic writing (the first movement of the G major work, for example), and the frequent spells of rather routine invention argue against his authorship, as does the three-movement form (he preferred, oddly, two-movement opere piccole or four-movement opere grande), the absence of minuets (a movement type he patently relished) and the presence of three very schematic variation finales (a type he avoided). The compiler of the Boccherini thematic catalogue thought that they had “formulas and turns of style which are characteristic of him”, on reading through the parts, but since he evidently didn’t notice that they were for flute, violin, viola and two cellos (as opposed to flute and string quartet) I am inclined to think the reading-through wasn’t too rigorous.
By Boccherini or not, they make pleasant listening. They don’t demand that special affection for detail or feeling for texture that the most characteristic Boccherini needs, and respond well to these direct, modern performances, neatly phrased, the dialogues gracefully executed. The first cellist, who has several flights into the upper reaches of his instrument, is very assured, and there is also the particular pleasure of Jean-Pierre Rampal’s flute playing, as urbane as ever.
-- Stanley Sadie. Gramophone [8/1998]
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, M
Solo Musica
CD
$20.99
Sep 20, 2019
From the Merel Quartet's inception, the music of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy has played an important role in ou repertoire. We find it fascinating how he achieves his own musical language in his string quartet writing, even in his earliest works in that genre. Clearly he is influenced by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, nevertheless, from the very first measures of his quartet Op 12 it is his own voice, his own unique sound which we hear. You simply have to love this music: the freshness, the intelligence, the enthusiasm which is especially infectious in these works; the high virtuosity of the Scherzi - witty, light, mysterious elfin, similar to his music for A Midsummer Night's Dream"; the lyricism - often we have the feeling that even in his chamber music he has written songs without words; and finally the codas - I don't know of anything more intoxicating than the end of the octet's first movement, or when, in the Finale of Op 12, he returns to material from the first movement, closing the circle and coming to rest - wonderful! The Octet Op 20 is unique in it's genre. Mendelssohn, just 16 years old, draws on all the possibilities of the eight instruments with unsurpassed mastery. As an example: his brilliant command of counterpoint especially in the Finale, beginning with an eight-voice fugato and leading to a theme quoted from the Halleluja Choir from Händel's "Messiah": "And He shall reign forever and ever". We feel extremely fortunate to have met the young English foursome with whom we recorded Mendelssohn's octet: the Castalian String Quartet. It is very rare indeed to find such a close musical affinity between two ensembles and working with them was extremely rewarding. The idea for this recording was born during our performance of the octet at the chamber music festival "Zwischentöne" in Engelberg in October 2017." (Merel Quartet)
Parry: Complete Music for String Quartet / Archaeus Quartet
MPR
CD
$23.99
Jun 22, 2018
Released in the 100th Anniversary year of Sir Hubert Hastings Parry's death, this is the first ever recording of his complete music for string quartet. Although the mighty Quartet no. 3 has been published and recorded once, Quartets 1&2 have languished unperformed and certainly unrecorded for many years. The early quartets are very much influenced by Mendelssohn and are quite delightful; the charming Scherzo in C, which Parry did not complete one hundred percent, is fully realized in an edition by Professor Jeremy Dibble (who also provided a performing version of Quartet no. 2), without whose invaluable help this recording would not have taken place. This double album was recorded in November 2017 in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Salehurst, East Sussex and the recording engineer was once again the superb Tony Faulkner. This recording is an absolute must for lovers of English music but also for those who enjoy early 'Romantic' chamber music and is a fascinating document of how Parry's voice as a composer developed over the years. Utterly amazing that these pieces have been overlooked, it's now time for them to be brought out into the sunshine!
Dvorak: String Quintet & Piano Quintet / Masurenko, Triendl, Vogler Quartett
CPO
CD
$18.99
Sep 30, 2016
Following the successful edition featuring Dvorák's complete string quartets, the Vogler Quartet releases more chamber music by this composer. During the course of his life Dvorák penned more than forty works for chamber ensemble. While most of his symphonies are most famous, they were often "sandwiched' between numberous chamber works.
REVIEW:
It is always an unexpected and very special surprise to receive a disc of very familiar works you already have multiple recordings of and have heard countless times, but one of such singular beauty that it causes you to fall in love with the music all over again, as if you were hearing it for the first time. Such is the magic of these performances of Dvořák’s String Quintet in E♭-Major and Piano Quintet in A Major, op. 81—I include the distinguishing opus number here because the composer wrote an earlier piano quintet in the same key, designated op. 5.
I’m not usually at a loss for words, but there’s not much else I can say other than that these are the most enrapturing performances of these two works I’ve ever heard, either live or on record. The balance between the instruments is such that tiny details emerge that one simply doesn’t hear in other recordings.
— Fanfare (Jerry Dubins)
Pleyel: String Quartets Op 2 No 4-6 / Enso Quartet
Naxos
CD
$19.99
Feb 21, 2006
PLEYEL String Quartets: in E?, op. 2/4; in B?, op. 2/5; in D, op. 2/6 ? Ens? Quartet ? NAXOS 8557497 (56:38)
Throughout his long and distinguished career, Ignaz Pleyel (1757?1831) composed a total of 57 string quartets, and by the time he wrote the half-dozen quartets that were engraved in 1784 by Graeffer in Vienna as op. 2, Haydn had already composed his ops. 20 and 33 sets, both of which expanded the scope and breadth of the form. Mozart was familiar with Pleyel?s work and it may have been Pleyel?s op. 2 that prompted Mozart to write his father, ?You will find them [the quartets] worth the trouble. They are very well written and most pleasing to listen to. You will also see at once who [Haydn] was his master. It will be a lucky day for music if later on Pleyel should be able to replace Haydn.?
Indeed, the presence of Haydn is unmistakable in these works, although it is not as if he were guiding Pleyel?s quill, for these quartets are not knock-offs. Rather they are as annotator Allan Badley noted, ?a remarkable achievement for a young composer and it is one of the cruel quirks of fate that works of such vitality and imagination could be forgotten for so long.? I add to Dr. Badley?s remarks that this music impresses immediately by way of its tunefulness, memorability, and tight, but never pedantic structure. It flows beautifully from page to page and movement to movement with the ease of a brook gently making its way down a hillside
The Ens? String Quartet?an American ensemble, by the way?is made up of violinists Maureen Nelson and Tereza Stanislav, violist Robert Brophy, and cellist Richard Belcher. The quartet takes its name from a Japanese zen painting of a circle ?that represents many things, perfection as well as imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness of the spirit.? In 2003, the group won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and in the same year was awarded top prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs in Ohio. They have appeared in leading venues across the land including Lincoln Center and the Merkin Concert Hall (New York) and have been the guests of Bill McLaughlin on St. Paul Sunday Morning , heard nationwide on member stations of National Public Radio.
Lacking the first of the two Naxos discs that make up Pleyel?s op. 2, I placed this arrival in my player with no preconceptions as to what I might hear. It didn?t take long for me to determine that I was privy to extraordinary talent. The performances are replete with enthusiasm and momentum and, drawing upon a winning combination of instinct and convention, they evoke not only a distinct personality, but also exhibit poise, coupled with an exceptional sense of vitality and elegance. The energy generated by these young musicians is obvious from the get-go, as is their commitment to the repertoire. Vital and intellectually challenging, these curiosities repay the listener?s interest time after time by way of their memorable and affable nature.
Without doubt, these quartets stand their ground with similar works of Haydn and Mozart, and with advocacy this strong, they will certainly begin to emerge from musical oblivion, taking their long overdue place in the repertoire.
FANFARE: Michael Carter
