I have the 3 Op 1 quartets and find them quite enjoyable. (I was one of the 8... 
)
You wouldn't be sorry to get that disk. That's all I've ever heard of him, unfortunately, so he leaves little to talk about elsewise. 
Looking forward to the SQs soon.
OK, so it's six months later!
Well, I got the SQ disc. Eybler was really the only composer I could find from the years post-Op.33/pre-1800 (about twenty years) who had 3 SQs per disc (as opposed to six (mostly the French, Viotti)). Sorry, but I figure quantity equals quality,... sometimes, haha!
Eybler had the best reputation in Vienna next to Mozart (re: Albrechtsberger comment), and these SQs were written when he was 22, before, apparently, he began to have to cater to aristoctaic tastes. So, as the notes state, these SQs really are one of the best representations of who Eybler was, musically speaking.
The cd starts of with
No.2, in
c minor. I have to tell you after listening to this disc for a few days, that, considering that this SQ was written in 1787, it reallly reallly sounds like LvB Op.18. One hears Mozart's
d minor, and, I tell you the truth, if you want to know where Haydn's
"witch's menuet" came from, you have to check out the menuet here. To me, the connection is clear (Gurn, you have it, what do you think?).
The
c minor first mvmt. gets my vote for most "metal" minor key SQ mvmt. Considering also its vintage, it's shockingly romantically minor (though it also features elegant majors mix thoughout). I think it gives both Haydn's
Fifths, and LvB's Op.18
c minor, a run for their money. And, the HIP performance is deliciously inevitable, very heavy when needed. I really think we could discuss this being written 13 years before Op.18. Indeed, with Eybler at 22, the fire of youth most certainly runs through this music. The main
c minor theme is so "evil" ("cool") sounding in that
witch's menuet way (along with the previously mentioned third mvmt.).
The
Bb Major SQ has just as much going for it from the other end. Honestly, there is a lot of LvB type strange stuff going on here. And in the two middle mvmts. there are some of the coolest modern sounding/misterioso harmonies I've heard ANYWHERE in "normal" classical music up to the 1920s. For some reason Eybler's SQs are reminding me of Busoni's? Are they just that modern? They still have a lot of the stereotypical classical tricks, but then there are passages of strange deep sounding harmonies; and, Eybler's "ways" are pretty unique sounding all the way around.
The
D Major Quartet seems the "lightest" of the three. It's slow mvmt., however, really reminds me of a distant cousin of the same in Op.18/1. Not quite as deep, but, as you're listening, you hear those imitative patterns...hmmm...
All I can say is that this favored pupil sounds a lot like LvB Op.18 to me. I mean, is this guy hot
, or what? Can I get a witness?
