~HIP SQs~

[snyprrr]

This is an edit of the original post. It is my attempt to keep track of pre-1800 SQs as they are available on cd. HIP and Modern styles don't matter here, since the field is scare enough as it is. Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven are not included, so, any additions are welcome.



Boccherini: CPO (Op.2, Op.32/4-6, Op.33, Opp. 39/41, Op.58)
                               Dynamic (Op.8, Op.52,     ,     )
                               Apponyi Qrt. various
                               Biondi & Co. (3?)
                               Esterhazy Qrt. Op.32
                               Naxos Op.32
                               Peterson Qrt. various

You can't get everything B wrote for SQ, but, you probably wouldn't want to, because about half of them are actually quartettini. The way you can tell is, six real quartets usually take two cds, quartettinis, one. All of B's important opera are represented, from the first, Op.2, to the last, Op.58 (plus the two he wrote in 1804), Op.32 being the most popular. Opp. 2 & 8 are considered quartetti proper, and, after that, Opp. 24, 32, 39, 41, 54, 58, and the two last SQs (I believe left somewhat unfinished), Op.64.

Dittersdorf: There are 3 actual surveys of his 6 SQs!, and a couple of individual works on OPPs (one coupled with Mozart).

Vanhal: (2) OOP/$$$ Stamic

Kozeluch: (2) OOP/$$$ Stamic (both)

Gyrowetz: (1; Hyperion/Salomon Qrt.) OOP/$$$

Wranitzky: (3+2) OOP/$$$ Op.16 1-6, Op.23 4-6, plus Op.16/6 on one Panton disc, and 16/5 on a another.

Myslivecek: (only one single SQ) OOP/$$$

Pleyel (3): one Stamic (Op.11), one Naxos set (Op.1), plus, Pleyel's last quartet opus from @1805, Op.11, on Hungaroton.

Albrechtsberger (1) Hungaroton

Krommer (2) both cds released 2009, second is the same group as the Albrechtsberger. Also, there are single Krommer SQs on two separate Panton OOPs.

Forster (0)

Rejcha (0; post-1800)

Danzi (0; post-1800)

Gassmann: (1) OOP Gassmann's set is one of the earliest, written in 1768. This cd has an Amazon address, but no cd.

Richter (1+1) 3 SQs on Alpha-Prod., and one on Panton.

Kraus (3+1) Two recent HIP cds, and one Swedish Lysell disc. The single g minor is coupled with the Flute Quintet on another disc.

Gretry (3) Actually three different versions of Op.3!

Gossec (1+?) Op.14 with flute instead of violin, and Op.15. Also, one SQ on Koch.

Viotti (2) Op.3 (Talent), and three mystery quartets on Dynamic.

Eybler (1) Op.1 (3)

Vachon 3 SQs with Jadin (ASV), and one or two with Cambini and Saint-George.

Saint-George (2+2) His 2nd and 3rd Books of SQs are available, and one with Cambini and Vachon, and one on Koch with the Joachim Qrt.

Cambini (2+2) 6 SQs on 2 cds on Stradivarius, and one each, I believe, on the two previously mentioned cds.

Sammartini (?) There is a disc on Stradivarius of "Quintets & Quartets", but I don't know if they're for strings.

Jadin (3) 3 SQs on ASV, 2 with the QM, and one with the Joachim on Koch (f minor).

Dussek (1) 1805, 3 SQs

Rosetti (1) CPO (6)

Rosler (1) Stamic

Klusak (1) Stamic

Canales (?) 3 SQs available as a download from Amazon. I don't know this guy, but it looks interesting.

Spech (1) I think this Festetics disc is of pre-1800 music, but I don't know.

Grill (1) 6 SQs I know nothing about.

Sacchini (1) 6 SQs I know nothing about.

Zmeskall (1) LvB era

Fesca (1) LvB era

Rolla (1) 3 SQs I know nothing about.

Brunetti (1) CPO

Ryba (1) Naxos

Michael Haydn (1) Sonare Qrt. on Claves

Abel/Shields/Wesley/Marsh/Webbe "SQ in 18th cent. England" Salomon/Hyperion

JC Bach I think there is an SQ hidden on some mix cd somewhere on Amazon.



I'm leaving with Schubert, and Donizetti, and Onslow, etc., to focus on pre-1800, but, of course, most anyone up to Mendelsshon aught to be included, or,...whatever! ha!

This was last updated Dec. 13, 2009.

[Bunny]

Speaking of Jadin, just which Jadin did you have in mind? Hyacinthe or Louis-Emmanuel?  There are at least 3 string quartets written by Louis-Emmanuel, but I believe they were written later in the 19th century.  Hyacinthe wrote, I believe, 15 or 16 before his premature death of TB.  Both their father and uncle were also composers but I'm not sure if either of them wrote string quartets too.

[snyprrr]

Speaking of Jadin, just which Jadin did you have in mind? Hyacinthe or Louis-Emmanuel?  There are at least 3 string quartets written by Louis-Emmanuel, but I believe they were written later in the 19th century.  Hyacinthe wrote, I believe, 15 or 16 before his premature death of TB.  Both their father and uncle were also composers but I'm not sure if either of them wrote string quartets too.

There is one Mosaiques that has both H & L-E, and there is one ASV disc with Hyacinthe (I believe) and Vachon. There are some great reviews of these on Amazon which should arouse interest.

[snyprrr]

I hope I didn't appear to be cheeky with this thread. OF COURSE my pocketbook is happy that affairs are so slim, but my SQ indexes indicate that there may be quite a few "g minor"-type SQ masterpieces yet to be unearthed out there.

Albrechtsberger is my candidate for Most Neglected SQ Master. Has ANYONE heard that Hungaroton recording?

Again, that Krommer disc was getting some great reviews here in another thread.

[snyprrr]

Looking through Groves at the library:

Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Sain-George, the mulatto violin master, surfaces as quite the dashing figure. I'm really curious about his 3rd book of SQs, Op.14 (@1887).

Also, Viotti, another violin virtuoso, has an interesting set of 6 SQs, Op.3 (written about the same time).

[snyprrr]

But, as I went through a final sweep of available cds, I was even more shocked that there were so many huge gaps. Except for one OOP Kozeluch/Stamic recording of 1891 SQs, there is NOTHING between Haydn's Op.50 and Beethoven's Op.18.

NOTHING, except for Eybler's Op.1 (3 SQs) and Boccherini's late Op.58 (1798). NOTHING!

[snyprrr]

Franz Xaver Richter wrote 6 SQs which were published in the 1770s as Op.5, and which, according to the status quo were conceived around 1768, but there appears to be some kind of evidence that they were started in the late 1750s, so you know what that means!

[FideLeo]

so you know what that means!

That they were actually Haydn's first works in the genre?   

BTW, the French label Alpha has issued a recording of (the first half of) this collection which is IMO quite nice and available

[Ten thumbs]

There are also the six quartets of Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen (1869). These are relatively light and playful in style, using experimental forms where no standards existed.

[snyprrr]

That they were actually Haydn's first works in the genre?   

, teehee!

[snyprrr]

Has anyone heard the Pleyel Op.2 SQs on Naxos?

[Gurn Blanston]

That they were actually Haydn's first works in the genre?   

BTW, the French label Alpha has issued a recording of (the first half of) this collection which is IMO quite nice and available

That's a good disk. Not only good music, but nice playing from that group. I bought the downloads, thus no liner notes. My loss...

[Gurn Blanston]

Has anyone heard the Pleyel Op.2 SQs on Naxos?

I have the disk with the first 3 on it. Pleyel (a student of Haydn) is like... Haydn Lite. These are very well written (and played here), but not really intricate or deep. No jokes or trickery, but good entertainment.

[snyprrr]

Got Dittersdorf CPO w/2Qrts-2Qnts:

My first reaction was that I couldn't tell the dif between Ditters or Haydn (or anyone for that matter), but the more I listened, the more it became plain that Ditters was pretty straight forward. I was comparing with Haydn Op.33.

Where Haydn seems a little more...mm...flowery, Ditters seemed to eschew frills. At first I thought Ditters was "deficient" in memorable material, but the closer I listened, I heard snippets of recognizablely Haydnesque melody. Still, the dif is pretty small. Perhaps if the recordings had had similar acoustics, the dif would be even less. Ditters seems to stay "major" more than Haydn, though.

Ditters seems also to have a little Mozart in the dangling chromatics, so maybe he is somewhere in the middle. Perhaps Pleyel is the composer he is most in competition with here.

Ditters seems to have thought quite highly of himself... and his SQs. What I heard was pretty typical. There is nothing like the "Fifths" SQ, or anything really remotely famous sounding...oh, except for the variations finale that literally sounds like "Hello Muddah". Cute.

Perhaps Ditters was more in line with what was actually popular in the day, rather than storming the Bastille.

Nice, typical, non offensive "classical" music.

[Opus106]

A little curious: when were the SQs composed?

The almost all-knowing doesn't provide any info. on this, but it does make a reference to the all-star quartet:

In circa 1774, Haydn, Dittersdorf, Mozart and Vanhal played String Quartets together. Haydn and Dittersdorf played the violins; Mozart, the viola; and Vanhal; the cello. The recorder of this event, the composer and tenor Michael Kelly, stated that they played well but not outstanding together, but the image of four of the great composers of the time all joined in common music making is still one of the classic images of the Classical era.

[snyprrr]

I believe Ditters' SQs were written in 1788, published Jan.'89.

@1784-89-91 there is a lot of SQ activity. Haydn began again (Op.50) after a hiatus, Boccherini began (OP.39) again after a hiatus. Pleyel was coming on strong. Saint-George and Viotti brought out their last offerings. Gyrowitz and Wranitzky began their ouvres. And Dittersdorf wrote his. There might be some others too.

Between Mozart's death and LvB's Op.18 (1791-1800) there is a lot of activity, but the recordings available are pretty much limited to Haydn and one Boccherini set (Op.58) and one Eybler set (Op.1).

It's interesting how MOST of the composers then did NOT stick to Haydn's 4 mvmt. structure, opting for the 3 mvmts adopted by Boccherini. The SQs still all round out to about 20min no matter what form is used.

[Opus106]

Thanks, snyprrr.

[snyprrr]

ah, someone finally spelled snyprrr right! My hero!

[Bunny]

Excuse me, but I thought his thread was about string quartets written before 1800, not quartets written in the 1800s. If the 19th century is in the mix, then the quartets of Louis Spohr should also be considered.  And the 19th century is a time frame rich in string quartets...

[snyprrr]

I believe we have as yet not mentioned any SQs 1800+ !

It would be niiice to include Spohr, but then I'd have to include Schubert, and then, who knows? Please keep your question in mind, and maybe we can get there later. I was thinking of this thread more as a laboratory culminating in LvB's Op.18 (1800), and working backwards towards the first works by Richter, Haydn, and Boccherini.

There's so much meat between 1750s-1800 that desperately needs to be brought to light. I too have a special place for Spohr (I think I actually started a "Spohr SQ" thread: feel free to revive that. I would like someone to talk to about his SQs!).

But here I'd like to concentrate on that which leads up to LvB. I'm still trying to figure out which Haydn SQ LvB was studying for his Op.18 (I am led to believe that it was only one,but which one?).