Beethoven - String Quartets Op 18 Nos 1-6

Label: Harmonia Mundi

Cat No: HMU90743637

Barcode: 0093046743628

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 26th November 2007

This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.

Works

Beethoven, Ludwig van

String Quartet no.1 in F major, op.18 no.1
String Quartet no.2 in G major, op.18 no.2
String Quartet no.3 in D major, op.18 no.3
String Quartet no.4 in C minor, op.18 no.4
String Quartet no.5 in A major, op.18 no.5
String Quartet no.6 in B flat major, op.18 no.6

Artists

Tokyo String Quartet

Works

Beethoven, Ludwig van

Artists

Tokyo String Quartet

About

Freshly arrived in Vienna, Beethoven began systematically revisiting the current musical genres, starting with chamber music. The string quartet was naturally the keystone of this edifice. His first published works in the genre, the six Quartets Op.18, confirmed his position as a powerful presence on the Viennese musical scene: the aim was to make his mark with the public, and that challenge was enough for the young composer to surpass himself. This is already 'music of a madman', to use the epithet applied to the later 'Razumovsky' Quartets, which constituted the first volume of this Beethoven series by the celebrated Tokyo String Quartet.

Officially formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo String Quartet traces its origins to the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where the founding members were profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito. Soon after its creation, the quartet won First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.

The Tokyo String Quartet performs on 'The Paganini Quartet', a group of renowned Stradivarius instruments named for legendary virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who acquired and played them during the 19th century. The instruments have been loaned to the ensemble by the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995, when they were purchased from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Tokyo String Quartet:
Martin Beaver, Kikuei Ikeda (violins)
Kazuhide Isomura (viola)
Clive Greensmith (cello)