String Quartets you just have to hear!

[ritter]

One SQ I'm particularly fond of is Enescu's 2nd. It shares the same opus number (22) as SQ 1, but was composed more tan thirty years later (in the early 1950s). (Note: Enescu was prone to group works in the same genre under one opus number, even if they were composed decades apart)

I think that the transition between the third movement (allegretto non troppo mosso) and the fourth (con moto - molto moderato, energico) is haunting. A theme dissolves at the end of the third movement, and then reappears vigorously in the fourth. I do think this transition gains if it's done almost attacca (as is the case in the Quartet Athenaeum Enesco's recording on CPO)...

http://www.youtube.com/v/YpB3h-Q3JqA

Regards,

[Cato]

Ravel's and Debussy's are perhaps not always on the radar.

[Mirror Image]

Ravel's and Debussy's are perhaps not always on the radar.

And how fine both are!

[AnthonyAthletic]

Bloch's SQ's

Some of the hardest, challenging quartet cacophonies I have ever had the pleasure to hear 

Still don't understand them after donkey's years, they are in the must have to hear category, but so so hard to digest.  (Probably just me)?

Griller Quartet.  Don't know many other recordings.

[San Antone]

Two more composers who wrote string quartets worth hearing:

Walter Piston
David Diamond

[kishnevi]

No one seems to have mentioned this composer in this thread,  but all of his SQs deserve a listen.

Elliot Carter

[torut]

Stephen Whittington (1953-): Music for Airport Furniture (2011)
performed by Zephyr Quartet

http://www.youtube.com/v/NhB0_Drh8dA

The title suggests association with Satie's furniture music and Brian Eno's Music for Airport.
This is music of ennui and melancholy.
Stephen Whittington is an and Australian composer, pianist and writer. He is influenced by Satie and John Cage.

I really like this. Unfortunately, the album is too short (just 23 min.)
[asin] B00E9E4HCU[/asin]

[torut]

I like these Russian/Soviet string quartets.

Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856-1915) 9 string quartets
Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (1881-1950) 13 string quartets
Vadim Nikolayevich Salmanov (1912-1978) 6 string quartets
Boris Alexandrovich Tchaikovsky (1925-1996) 6 string quartets
Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko (1939-2010) 6 string quartets

Taneyev Quartet recorded all the quartets of Taneyev, Myaskovsky and Salmanov, and some of Tishchenko on Norther Flowers label. The sound is not ideal, but the playing is energetic and very good. Taneyev Quartet recorded complete Shostakovich string quartets, too, which was praised highly but seems unavailable.

[amw]

The Taneyevs are (were) a first-class ensemble, IMO just as good as the Borodins though technically not quite as sound. Shostakovich reserved the premieres of his quartets for the Beethoven Quartet (apart from the last, which was written for the Taneyevs) but usually gave them the second go, so I would be surprised if their recording was terrible.

[torut]

The Taneyevs are (were) a first-class ensemble, IMO just as good as the Borodins though technically not quite as sound. Shostakovich reserved the premieres of his quartets for the Beethoven Quartet (apart from the last, which was written for the Taneyevs) but usually gave them the second go, so I would be surprised if their recording was terrible.

hi amw, do you have Borodin's Shostakovich SQs? I have Borodin's Shostakovich SQ complete set, but I felt the playing is too heavy ... or oppressive ... I read many reviews that rank Borodin's Shostakovich SQs the highest.
Since I liked Taneyev Quartet's playing of these composers, I guessed that I would like their Shostakovich recordings. But I may not if I don't get it with Borodin's playing ... ?
Then, I wanted to try something different, and purchased Quatuor Danel's Shostakovich SQs. So far, I like it, but I just heard it only few times.

[Dax]

Stephen Whittington (1953-): Music for Airport Furniture (2011)
performed by Zephyr Quartet

The title suggests association with Satie's furniture music and Brian Eno's Music for Airport.

It certainly does. You'd think he could come up with a better title!

[San Antone]

Benjamin Frankel wrote five string quartets.  If you like his symphonies, you will want to hear his quartets.

Edmund Rubbra wrote four string quartets.  Same as above.

[torut]

It certainly does. You'd think he could come up with a better title!

I think that is a good title, because it was the title (and the fact that it was a string quartet) that made me rush to get the album.

Actually, Music for Airport Furniture sounds like an adagio of a romantic music, with some dramatic moments.

He composed some more string quartets, but they have not been released in CD/download format.  These have more similarity to John Cage's music.

Windmill (1991)
Australian String Quartet at the Art Gallery of South Australia in September 2012
http://www.youtube.com/v/9rsjbjcPvrg

The Unnameable, the 1st movement of '...from a thatched hut' (2010)
Zephyr Quartet, August 1, 2010, at Khai Liew Gallery, Adelaide
http://www.youtube.com/v/AAkHGxclECc

He also arranged a furniture music of Satie for SQ.

Tapisserie en fer forgé - Erik Satie
Arranged for string quartet by Stephen Whittington (2010)
http://www.youtube.com/v/5tOP_Ga0i9Y

[San Antone]

After listening to No. 10,  I want to hear the others (and you should too) ~

Pehr Henrik Nordgren ~ String Quartet No. 10

https://www.youtube.com/v/8e7lCOd3Xik

Performed by The Tempera Quartet (the work's dedicatee).

[torut]

After listening to No. 10,  I want to hear the others (and you should too) ~

Pehr Henrik Nordgren ~ String Quartet No. 10

Performed by The Tempera Quartet (the work's dedicatee).

Thank you for this. It is very beautiful. Were all the string quartets recorded? I only found No. 4 & 5 (Kokkola Quartet on Ondine) and No. 10 & 11 (Tempera Quartet on Alba.)

[San Antone]

Thank you for this. It is very beautiful. Were all the string quartets recorded? I only found No. 4 & 5 (Kokkola Quartet on Ondine) and No. 10 & 11 (Tempera Quartet on Alba.)

It does not appear that any other than those four are available.  At least not from the quick search I did.

[The new erato]

The Alba disc is simply wonderful and have made me look for more Nordgren. Unfortunately several interesting discs are OOP.

[torut]

Fortunately, 4 string quartets of Nordgren are available in mp3 format.

I heard that the string quartets of Shebalin (total 9?) and Glière (total 4?) are very good, but even downloads are not available.

[amw]

I heard that the string quartets of Shebalin (total 9?) [...] are very good, but even downloads are not available.

This appears to be a download (in lossless, too), though it's all in Russian, and of questionable legality.

http://intoclassics.net/news/2014-01-11-18670

From the same site, what appears to be a considerable amount of Glière chamber music (MP3 though) including two string quartets. http://intoclassics.net/news/2013-04-20-15527

[torut]

This appears to be a download (in lossless, too), though it's all in Russian, and of questionable legality.

http://intoclassics.net/news/2014-01-11-18670

From the same site, what appears to be a considerable amount of Glière chamber music (MP3 though) including two string quartets. http://intoclassics.net/news/2013-04-20-15527

Thank you very much! However, the downloading is very slow...