FREE UK SHIPPING OVER £30!

Janacek / Szymanowski - String Quartets Nos 1 & 2

£13.88

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Label: Chandos

Cat No: CHAN10405

Barcode: 0095115140529

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 28th August 2007

Works

Janacek, Leos

String Quartet no.1 'The Kreutzer Sonata'
String Quartet no.2 'Intimate Letters'

Szymanowski, Karol

String Quartet no.1 in C major, op.37
String Quartet no.2, op.56

Artists

Schoenberg Quartet

Works

Janacek, Leos

String Quartet no.1 'The Kreutzer Sonata'
String Quartet no.2 'Intimate Letters'

Szymanowski, Karol

String Quartet no.1 in C major, op.37
String Quartet no.2, op.56

Artists

Schoenberg Quartet

About

This recording follows the Schoenberg Quartet’s comprehensive survey of the works for strings by Schoenberg, Webern, Berg and Zemlinsky issued on nine Chandos CDs to great critical acclaim between 2001 and 2002.

Both the Janácek and the Szymanowski are powerful, quite draining works but totally engaging to listen to, and wonderfully performed by the Schoenberg Quartet.

Leos Janácek’s quartets date from his later years and in fact the second quartet was his last completed work. They are difficult works to play with strange figurations and passionate outpouring but players enjoy the challenge this presents. The ‘Kreutzer Quartet’ takes its inspiration from Tolstoy’s cynical and incisive 1889 novella on the same name. The second quartet is entitled ‘Intimate Letters’ and Janáček commented that the quartet was written as a direct emotional response to experiences in his life.

The Janácek quartets are coupled by the rarer two string quartets of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. These works make up the sum total of Szymanowski’s contribution to the chamber music repertoire. Although they were written ten years apart both are imbued with the sensuality which was such a characteristic of his music. The second quartet employs Tatra folk melodies which can also be found in the once act ballet Harnasie, the one-act ballet on which Szymanowski was also working on at the time.

The Schoenberg Quartet was founded in 1976. The musicians share a common interest in the composers of the Second Viennese School and have specialised in music of the first 20 years of the 20th Century. However they also perform music from Debussy to Brahms.

“The Schoenberg Quartet adds that element of emotional daring which makes all the difference in the world. Outstanding.” Gramophone