...please SQs me...

[bwv 1080]

Try the 3 Schumann quartets op 41, which IMO are the best of the Romantic era

I have the Eroica recording, which is well done but don't really have anything to compare it to

[ChamberNut]

Try the 3 Schumann quartets op 41, which IMO are the best of the Romantic era

I have the Eroica recording, which is well done but don't really have anything to compare it to

Another option is the Fine Arts Quartet recording on Naxos.

[Joe Barron]

You don't need to look too hard to see that the affinity Ives shares with  Bolcom (and a lot of others, e.g., Zappa) that isn't shared with Carter.

Answered in the Ives thread.

[Fëanor]

Hey, snyprr,

Got this one?  The compser is Christos Hatzis (b.1953).

The SQ No. 1 is kind of weird with voice and train sounds.  I like the No. 2 is a bit more to my taste; it has flavours of the composer's native country, Greece.

[Drasko]

Try the 3 Schumann quartets op 41, which IMO are the best of the Romantic era

I have the Eroica recording, which is well done but don't really have anything to compare it to

I like Eroica in 1st and 2nd but their 3rd strikes me as plodding and dull. My favorites when comes to Schumann quartets are without any doubt Zehetmair Quartett (1st & 3rd on ECM) and Hagen Quartett (on two separate DG discs with Quintet).

[snyprrr]

Hey, snyprr,

Got this one?  The compser is Christos Hatzis (b.1953).

The SQ No. 1 is kind of weird with voice and train sounds.  I like the No. 2 is a bit more to my taste; it has flavours of the composer's native country, Greece.

I didn't know who you were talking about until the pic downloaded (turtle dail up!!!). I remember reading about it. If this computer thing wasn't stuck in 1984 I'd be listening to a whooole lot more stuff lately (including all the files nice people here have been sending- please keep it up, I'll get to a good computer one day!).

[snyprrr]

I'm practically engaged to this ABQ Teldec box. Along w/library boxes, this is the first time I've wallowed only in the "classics" (H M S B). However, without hearing a note, I've already taken a liking to Krommer, Spohr, Cherubini, Boccherini, Onslow,... and my favorite darkhorse Albrechtsberger ( )who? They all wrote lotttz of SQs.

Even also, you have Eybler, Rejcha, Danzi, Forster, Wranitzky, Pleyel, Gyrowitz...most all of whom seem to have written over 20 SQs each, and worked between the deaths of Mozart and LvB.

And bringing up the rear we have Myslivecek with 2 sets (1780-82), Kozeluch, and finally rounding off this Top Ten...Vanhal with numerous sets during Mozart's time.

I think on Amazon at least, these SQs are not served well at all. I believe I saw 3 Krommer world premieres coming out this month, and THAT cd I'm already raving about, though I've not heard note one of Krommer's music ever!

I think there are only a few compilation cds of the Czech SQs (must be on Supraphon), and a few of the scattered others on CPO, and no more than three of Boccherini... I don't know.

I do believe Cherubini and Spohr are amply represented, though.

These are ALL the prolific SQ composers I know of through the classical era. Everyone else seems to have one or two sets and then poof! I'd be surprised to see if you're gonna pull something out of your hat. I predict the Krommer will be an instant classic. Let's see.

I'm starting to find the history of SQs quite extraordinary. From Haydn Op.20 onward, SQs pour forth by the hundreds and hundreds until only the death of LvB begins to peeter them out. After the death of Haydn, and leading up to LvB's death (1812-1828) seems to be a special time. In my index (old), 1828 was the first year an SQ wasn't written since 1766, almost 60 years of endless SQs!!

In the beginning was Haydn AND Boccherini, Haydn AND Boccherini, always, so, from its beginnings with two fathers (the only time in history that that's been a good thing!), the SQ has been bred for diversity and adaptability, an excellent laboratory, able to tackle anything thrown at it.

Is it not the 250th anniversary of the SQ? (1759-2009)

!!!!!!!!Happy 250th Anniversary!!!!!!!!

[snyprrr]

Just to keep the festivities going:

250 Years of the String Quartet
I begin by mentioning JS Bach's "The Art of Fugue" as technically the first SQ ever, though just for fun! I haven't heard the Emersons, but I can imagine their high powered New York approach working well with this kind of music.

[snyprrr]

The 2009 "season" has settled into "back to basics" approach for me. It's been so many years since I listened to the "classics", and what with the current Mozart craze here at GMG, I have decided to get my PhD (pile it higher and deeper) in SQs right here in this very forum!

250 Years of the String Quartet
I have just heard the late Mozart SQs, all for the first time; I'm sure to hear LvB's Op.18 all for the first time in the near future; and, I'm giving Haydn one last run for the money (always had problems with his SQs).

But, because of the current "unknown classical era composers" rage that's sweeping the country , I have made it a point to uncover as many hidden masterpieces as possible from the classical era. So far, I have a roster of about 20 composers to choose from (all who appear to have written beaucoup SQs). Though I haven't heard note one from any of them (unless anonymously on the radio), I already have some favorites for exploring: Krommer, Vanhal, Kraus, Cherubini, Spohr, etc.

Along with the "back to basics" approach, I will be continuing to shore up the 20th century, though, it appears I am definitely down to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rank. Names like Husa, Gerhard, and Blacher come to mind. And I will HAVE to be sure to institute  tough new standards when accepting any new SQ written after 1976-84: I've neither the time, moneies, nor inclination to run an orphanage for bad SQs (sorry Kronos!). Thomas Ades will be the "last" composer I contract to listen for, and already $8 seems too much for just one SQ. And if Kronos and Arditti continue on their current paths, I should have no problem resisting their charms for a good long while to come.

So, let the ribbons be broken, let the parades begin, and let us truly celebrate this 250th year of the String Quartet by listening heartily and reflecting deeply upon what lies beneath as well as to the surface attractions that initially appealled to our hearing. Bon sons!

250 Years of the String Quartet
Let the Helikopter Quartet begin!!! ::)What if it crashed???

[snyprrr]

I'm sooo excited! My own little festival... sailing weather...ah!!...

Tippett 1-3, anyone?

[Fëanor]

I'm sooo excited! My own little festival... sailing weather...ah!!...

Tippett 1-3, anyone?

Yeah, not bad. Worth a listen though not in my top 20.

[Maciek]

I begin by mentioning JS Bach's "The Art of Fugue" as technically the first SQ ever

But... wait... doesn't that invalidate the... the 250th anniversary festivities? I mean it would have to be the 259th anniversary instead... Who will compensate for the flyers, program notes, posters, etc. etc. already arrived from the printer's?!

[snyprrr]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! 0:)

250 Years of the String Quartet

[snyprrr]

This week's festivities begin with a Beethoven Op.18 poll in the "Recordings" room of GMG. Please one and all are welcome.

[snyprrr]

Our week of festivities has already yielded the World Premiere of the Beethoven Op.18 SQs here at the SQ Thread . Surely the 30 year old's set of 6 SQs is an auspicious debut.

I am quite tempted to start a favorite "set" poll!,incl. Boccherini!

[snyprrr]

OK, so,... 3 years later!! ,... and apparently the GMG String Quartet Festival is OVER!! Well, I hope not.

I certainly have moved on since the heady days of 2009, but, recently, I've had to come full circle, and so, I am revisiting some, and meeting others for the first time.

Currently, I'm listening the the String Quartet No.3 (1983; CRI) by Richard Wilson, which was recommended for its concluding Elegy, starting now. The first two movements seriously suffered from 'A Serialist Composer Living in 1983' Syndrome, and was replete with hysterical, Schoenbergian outbursts of caterwauling and grating... basically, it should have been on that Emerson SQ cd 'American Contemporaries', which is, basically, a compendium of 'things snyprrr doesn't like in his SQs'. The Muir SQ, mostly known for the Romantic Classics, play with the utmost intensity and passion, but, I feel the emotions expressed in the music sound like... uh,... nevermind, I think you already know what it sounds like: Wernick, Starer, ad infinitum.

Sure, I can dote on a grating, '70s styled serialist work (besides Carter No.3 (1971), Donald Harris is one I don't mind (CRI; on YouTube)). But, here I am, in the midst of this Elegy, and, it's still pretty grating,... I'm going to call the whole thing angst-y Abstract Expressionism,... American Academic Schoenberg,... very typical of the decade.

Next up we have Howard Boatwright's 1972 String Quartet No.2, also on CRI. This guy comes with more of a Hindemithian pedigree, sooo,... I shall return...

[Karl Henning]

Fully three and a half years later. (Just saying.)

Anyway, a bunch of us are partying with the Shostakovich quartets; please be welcome.

[snyprrr]

Fully three and a half years later. (Just saying.)

Anyway, a bunch of us are partying with the Shostakovich quartets; please be welcome.

I just can't listen to them anymore. It's like the 'Freebird Syndrome': I can play them in my head at will (yea,... right ), so, I need to watch it, or it'll be like THAT song that gets stuck in your head. Still, here's my 2 cents:

No. 6 (most beautiful slow movement)

Nos. 4-5 (I will ONLY hear the Manhattan SQ here, just my thing,... just this one disc)

Nos. 7 & 11 (I think most of us agree that these two are the shizzle!)

No.9 (for over-the-top, all pistons firing)

No.15 (out of the final, Late Works, stage, this is the one for me. Perhaps it is the similarity to 11? 7/11/15 would be a good disc)


That leaves 1-3 (love No.1) and 8 & 10, none of which I really care for (though, I'd pick 10 out of that bunch). For some reason I really can't stand No.8.

[snyprrr]

Next up we have Howard Boatwright's 1972 String Quartet No.2, also on CRI. This guy comes with more of a Hindemithian pedigree, sooo,... I shall return...

haha, ok, right from the very first notes it's obvious there's a personal Hindemith connection here! It's also a bit angst-y. I'd call this 1972 piece a '1958' vintage. Perhaps '30s-era Hindemith (the wilder one) as seen through the later Hindemith's technique? It's not grating like the Wilson, but I may end up giving it a 'Slightly Dreary and Angst-y Neo-Classic' label. OH! Thsis is fun, haha!! These two SQs might swear me off CRI for a while, haha, though, there's PLENTY of Academic Serialism to be had for sure! I'm thinking Donald Harris, Brian Fennelly, Martin Boykan, Martin Bresnick... we are definitely not in Kansas anymore!

[snyprrr]

Laderman SQ No.6/ Schickele SQ No.1 "American Dreams" (Audubon SQ; RCA)


I really enjoyed the Schickele, a nice, woody SQ, just what the doctor ordered. It's just what you would expect, and doesn't disappoint. The Laderman is very much like the other serialist works I mentioned, but, a little more chipper and a little less angst-y.