A series made up primarily of the string quartet repertoire, with other string and/or chamber works included here and there. There’s so much of this stuff that’s so worthy of attention, and it would take too long to get through in the main mid-week series, so here we are.
performed by the Nash Ensemble, or below (cover image by Gaetano Cessati) Mozart’s second flute quartet, in G major, was written, or at least completed, in 1778. Three of Mozart’s four flute quartets, I guess, were written for “amateur flautist … Continue reading Mozart Flute Quartet no. 2 in G, K. 285a
performed by the Hagen Quartet (cover image by Ehud Neuhaus) Before God, and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. He has taste, and, … Continue reading Mozart String Quartet no. 14 in G, K. 387
performed by Joszef Kiss and the Kodály Quartet, or below by Alexei Ogrintchouk, oboe; Baiba Skride, violin; Veronika Hagen, viola; Sol Gabetta, cello (cover image by Anita Austvika) Mozart’s Oboe quartet dates from 1781, a few years later than the … Continue reading Mozart Oboe Quartet in F, K. 370
performed by Jean-Guihen Queyras, or below by Pieter Wispelwey (cover image by Patrick Hendry) And now for something a little lighter. I’d originally intended to cover all six of these suites across three consecutive weekends, but later thought better of … Continue reading Bach Cello Suite no. 6 in D major, BWV. 1012
performed by the Taneyev Quartet (cover image by Frederic Koberl) Vadim Nikolayevich Salmanov was born on November 4, 1912 in Saint Petersburg. His musical education began with piano lessons from his father, and was preparing to enter the Leningrad Conservatory … Continue reading Vadim Salmanov: String Quartet no. 1
performed by the Stenhammar Quartet, or below by the Glazunov Quartet (cover image by Johannes Plenio) At the beginning one does not expect much from this piece completed under the tutelage of Nikolay Myaskovsky on November 20, 1928; a study piece and … Continue reading Dmitry Kabalevsky: String Quartet no. 1 in Am, op. 8
performed by Chamber Music Northwest, or below by performers at the Cleveland Institute of Music (cover image by Joanna Kosinska) We’re going to see that Prokofiev’s self-plagiarism was relatively common, at least in this period, and considering he wrote such … Continue reading Prokofiev Quintet in Gm, op. 39
performed by the Goldner String Quartet, or below by the Alban Berg Quartet (cover image by David von Diemar) One of Stravinsky’s few efforts in the string quartet form, the Three Pieces dates from 1914, right after Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. … Continue reading Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet
performed by members of the Berlin Philharmonic Octet, or as below, by people you may recognize (cover image by Christopher Harris) Say goodbye to Beethoven. At least for a few weeks. We’re working our way through the earlier pieces of … Continue reading Beethoven Septet in E flat, op. 20
performed by Eric LeSage, Paul Meyer, and Claudio Bohórquez, or below by José Franch-Ballester, Ani Aznavoorian and Warren Jones (cover image by Michael D. Beckwith) Today’s work is the one that ruined it all for Beethoven’s piano trios. Just kidding. … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Trio in B flat, op. 11
performed by the Wind Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, or as below by Ensemble Philidor (cover image by Aaron Burden) Today’s piece is the first in a group of five works for six instruments. A few weeks ago … Continue reading Mozart Divertimento no. 8 in F, K. 213
performed by the Grumiaux Trio and William Bennett, or as below by Ensemble Connect (cover image by Aleyna Rentz) With this piece, we jump ahead a bit in Mozart’s chronology, to 1777. The work was apparently completed on Christmas day … Continue reading Mozart Flute Quartet no. 1 in D, K. 285
performed by the Vienna-Mozart Trio, or below by the Mozartean Players (cover image by Ales Krivec) It’s really a divertimento, I guess, scored for piano trio. Now, if we go back a few years to our discussion of Beethoven’s op. … Continue reading Mozart Piano Trio no. 1 in B flat, K. 254
performed by the Éder Quartet with János Fehérvári, or below by Les Adieux (cover image by Jan Meeus) As evidenced by the catalogue number for this work, Mozart’s first quintet for strings came right on the heels of the six … Continue reading Mozart String Quintet no. 1 in B flat, K. 174
performed by the Amadeus Quartet, or below by the Festetics Quartet (cover image by David von Diemar) Mozart’s 13th string quartet is the last of his set of six ‘Viennese quartets,’ and the only one in a minor key. In … Continue reading Mozart String Quartet no. 13 in Dm, K. 173
performed by the Meta4 Quartet (cover image by Aaron Burden) We welcome Erkki Melartin back to the blog, after around a year since the Finnish symphony series, but finally with his first quartet. There’s (perhaps unsurprisingly) precious little information available … Continue reading Melartin String Quartet no. 1 in Em, op. 36 no. 1
performed by the Amadeus quartet with Cecil Aronowitz and William Pleeth, or below by the Alberni Quartet with Roger Best and Moray Welsh (cover image by Brooke Lark) If you have, like I used to have, any doubt that where … Continue reading Brahms String Sextet in G, op. 36
performed by the Amadeus Quartet, or below by the Festetics Quartet (cover image by Neven Krcmarek) As discussed yesterday, Mozart’s ‘Viennese’ quartets were his second set of six (grouped together as suggested by his father), after the ‘Milanese’ quartets. Todays’ … Continue reading Mozart String Quartet no. 12 in B flat, K. 172
performed by the Amadeus Quartet, or below by the Festetics Quartet (cover image by Mitch Lensink) Mozart’s eleventh string quartet is the fourth in his second series of six string quartets, which came to be known as the ‘Viennese’ quartets. … Continue reading Mozart String Quartet no. 11 in E flat, K. 171
performed by Delmé Quartet, available on iTunes or from Hyperion (cover image by Paul Morris) Robert Simpson’s fifth string quartet dates from 1974 and is the second of the three quartets (4-6) that make up a small set of quartets … Continue reading Simpson String Quartet no. 5
performed by the Delmé Quartet, available digitally basically nowhere but the iTunes store or Hyperion (cover image by Serge Kutuzov) Ah, Robert Simpson, the real inspiration behind the Editor’s Choice series, and someone I discovered just by digging through forums … Continue reading Simpson String Quartet no. 4
Fugue for Thought 