German Record Critics' Award for the complete recording of Hindemith's string quartets by the Juilliard String Quartet!
With this CD, WERGO starts recording all Hindemith string quartets with the Juilliard String Quartet. These recordings will certainly be looked forward to not only by lovers of Hindemith's music but also by the musicians themselves: "Though the string quartets represent but a small part of Hindemith's tremendous and all inclusive output, we nevertheless feel that they are quite significant in the context of his career as a performer and composer", says violist Samuel Rhodes in the liner notes of the CD booklet. "We are challenged by the depth of the musical content, the extraordinary enthusiasm, and the sophistication of compositional technique that exist in these works."
A special event in Hindemith's career as a musician and composer is connected with the string quartet No. 3: The work was to be performed for the first time at the contemporary music festival at Donaueschingen in 1921; however, the ensemble originally designated for the performance seemed to be greatly concerned by the difficulties of the work. As a consequence, Hindemith formed his own ensemble - the Amar Quartet that started a successful career with Hindemith as violist. Owing to the work's success, Hindemith became all at once a well-known composer, the epitome of a great young talent, in the musical scenes of both Germany and Europe.
With string quartet No. 5 composed in 1923, Hindemith created a work that combines strict contrapunctal techniques with melodic expressiveness but also with the impulsiveness and enthusiasm that are typical of him.
