performed by the Quatuor Diotima (cover image by Frantzou Fleurine) Everyone knows the middle movement, but what about what comes before and after it? This quartet, while an early work, is powerful and more than worthy of a listen from … Continue reading Barber String Quartet in Bm, op. 11
performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band (cover image by Francisco Aceldo) Frederick Shepherd Converse was born on January 5, 1871 in Newton, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard with John Knowles Paine, and his op. 1 violin sonata from 1893 got ‘highest honors’ as … Continue reading Frederick Converse: String Quartet no. 2 in Am, op. 18
performed by the Maggini Quartet Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was born September 8, 1934 in Salford, Lancashire. He told his parents at the ripe young age of four that he wanted to be a composer, after having seen Gilbert & … Continue reading Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: Naxos Quartet no. 1, op. 229
performed by the Emerson String Quartet or below by the Pavel Haas Quartet Prokofiev’s first string quartet comes shortly after the first version of his symphony no. 4, and just before the fourth piano concerto (the left-handed one) (with a … Continue reading Prokofiev String Quartet No. 1 in B minor, op. 50
performed by Yefim Bronfman, Cho-Liang Lin, and Gary Hoffman, or below by the Beaux Arts Trio This is another name we haven’t seen in almost exactly a year. Arenksy’s first symphony was in last year’s Russian Symphony Series, but we’d visited … Continue reading Arensky Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 32
performed by the Stenhammar Quartet (no YouTube this time, but a review of the album is on MusicWeb, and it’s rather frank and more negative than I was inclined to be. Also, if you’re determined to listen to something today and … Continue reading Atterberg String Quartet no. 2 in B minor, op. 11
performed by the Uppsala Kammarsolister Per August Ölander was born 8 January, 1824 in Linkoping. His father was an organist. He studied at Uppsala University, and owed something of his career to support from his father-in-law, Johan Erik Nord Blom, Director … Continue reading Per August Ölander: String Sextet
performed by: Bernt Lysell, violin Björn Sjögren, viola Lucia Negro, piano First things first. Do note that this piano trio is for violin, viola, and piano, with no cello. You’ll notice in the recording. Also, it’s an extra installment of our SQS on … Continue reading Lindblad Piano Trio in G minor, Op.10
performed by the Talich Quartet, or below in a nice performance from the Halcyon Music Festival with a small introduction The opening of this work seems like such a mature, polished, well-executed work for a young, early composition like a first string … Continue reading Mendelssohn String Quartet no. 1 in E flat, op. 12
performed by the Smith Quartet, or below by the Spektral Quartet or in another great performance here Here we are! This is something many more people will recognize as Philip Glass. The description of the above video says it is … Continue reading Glass String Quartet no. 2, ‘Company’
performed by The Smith Quartet (in a video below that seems not to be available in all countries. The album can be purchased here or in iTunes) I’ll be the first to say that this work isn’t the best place to start … Continue reading Philip Glass: String Quartet no. 1
performed by the Emerson String Quartet Shostakovich was a prolific composer, as we have discussed, but it was rather late in his life that he got around to string quartets. He was in his thirties before he completed his first, in … Continue reading Shostakovich String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68
performed (live) by the Emerson String Quartet, from their box set of the quartets “I visualized childhood scenes, somewhat naïve and bright moods associated with spring.” Dmitri Shostakovich from Epstein, Paul. Emerson String Quartet: “Shostakovich: The String Quartets” I wrote … Continue reading Shostakovich String Quartet no. 1 in C, Op. 49
performed by the Emerson String Quartet Beethoven left his mark on just about everything. If you want to talk about ‘cycles’ of piano sonatas, Beethoven has a killer one. Symphony cycle? One of the best. Piano concertos? Five of them. … Continue reading Bartok String Quartet No. 1 in A minor
performed by the Emerson String Quartet I hope you listened to and enjoyed the very first post of July, Debussy’s string quartet. It’s one of the most famous quartets in the repertoire, I’d say, especially from a composer who lived … Continue reading Ravel String quartet in F major
performed by the Arditti quartet The string quartet under discussion begins at this point in the above video, or from here In searching for information about this quartet, I came to find that there is very little discussion virtually anywhere of Berio’s almost-earliest work … Continue reading Berio: Quartetto (1956)
performed by the Cicada Quartet Maderna’s Quartet is the hardest nut to crack [on the album], with its fragmented phrases and restless rhythms and dynamics. But behind the notes the Cikadas’ deeply committed playing reveals glimpses of a dramatic personality … Continue reading Bruno Maderna: Quartetto per archi in due tempi
performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Maryvonne Le Dizes, Pierre Strauch & Alain Damiens or below by Pianist Matthew Schellhorn and Soloists of the Philharmonia Orchestra: James Clark (violin), Barnaby Robson (clarinet), David Cohen (cello) Never was I listened to with such rapt attention … Continue reading Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Kodaly Quartet Any sounds in any combination and in any succession are henceforth free to be used in a musical continuity… -Claude Debussy Our first piece in the Darmstadt Series isn’t. … Continue reading Debussy String Quartet in Gm, op. 10
performed by the Juilliard Quartet Non multa sed multum (Not much in quantity, but much in content) A Deruchie We’re nearing the end of a long stretch of history (of course skipping over a lot) into the modern era, but … Continue reading Webern: Six Bagatelles, op. 9
performed by the LaSalle Quartet I owe very, very much to Mozart; and if one studies, for instance, the way in which I write for string quartet, then one cannot deny that I have learned this directly from Mozart. And … Continue reading Schoenberg String Quartet in D major
Fugue for Thought 