Stephen Dodgson: String Quartets Volume 3: World premiere recordings

The set cannily begins with the best material. The string sextet medium has been near-extinct after 19th-century highlights by Brahms, Dvorak and Schoenberg...unsurprisingly perhaps, given the... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2011, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 14th Mar 2011
Catalogue No: CDLX7265
Label: Dutton
Series: Epoch

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String Sextet (1996) i. Allegro moderato (Praeludium)

String Sextet (1996) ii. Lento – Agitato (Scherzo and Shadow)

String Sextet (1996) iii. Risoluto – Alla danza (Chaconne)

Quintet for Flute & Strings (2003) i. Moderato

Quintet for Flute & Strings (2003) ii. Poco adagio

Quintet for Flute & Strings (2003) iii. Vivace

Quintet for Clarinet & Strings (2007) i. Gently paced: lyrical Quintet for Clarinet & Strings (2007)

Quintet for Clarinet & Strings (2007) ii. Bright and skittish

Quintet for Clarinet & Strings (2007) iii. Subdued and meditative

Quintet for Clarinet & Strings (2007) iv. Emphatic, with drive

String Quartet no.2 (1987) i. Allegretto: poco agitato

String Quartet no.2 (1987) ii. Andante piacevole

String Quartet no.2 (1987) iii. Allegro di molto

String Quartet no.2 (1987) iv. Nocturne (Andante)

String Quartet no.2 (1987) v. Capriccio agitato

String Quartet no.2 (1987) vi. Allegro

String Quartet no.8 (2005) i. Bright and purposeful String Quartet no.8 (2005)

String Quartet no.8 (2005) ii. With a gentle and plangent motion

String Quartet no.8 (2005) iii. Steady and unyielding

String Quartet no.9 (2006) i. Andante

String Quartet no.9 (2006) ii. Animato

String Quartet no.9 (2006) iii. Calmo

String Quartet no.9 (2006) iv. Alla marcia

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About

Recorded: St Silas Church, Chalk Farm, London, 31 January 2008; 1 February 2008; 3-4 March 2009; 18-19 January 2010

In a long and distinguished career, Stephen Dodgson (b.1924) has produced works in almost every form. An acute ear and sharp sense for instrumental sonorities have drawn him particularly to chamber music. His nine acknowledged string quartets (four more were withdrawn) are among the most important written by a modern English composer, and range from works of an almost Bartókian intensity to pieces in which his light touch and sometimes mischievous wit show in music owing much to early English music and a love of the dance. His most recent quartet, the Ninth, is a fine example of how serious things can be said in a light-hearted manner. It also shows how outstanding craftsmanship is used by a true composer in the service of music and not for display, to aid and not confuse the listener. His love of virtuosity is, characteristically, shown in the dazzlingly effective music he writes for instrumentalists whose skill and character he admires, as with the Flute Quintet. In the Clarinet Quintet, another virtuoso work, the soloist is also asked to be by turns ‘bright and skittish’ as well as ‘sweet and songful’ and ‘subdued and meditative’. Contrast is a typical ingredient of Dodgson’s music, as when the finale of his richly textured Sextet ends with a dance over the formality of a subtle chaconne.

Reviews

August 2011

The set cannily begins with the best material. The string sextet medium has been near-extinct after 19th-century highlights by Brahms, Dvorak and Schoenberg...unsurprisingly perhaps, given the technique needed to keep six individual parts in the air at once. In Dodgson's hands the problem hardly seems to exist...Overall, the Tippetts show sustained excellence in faultless sound.

September 2011

Idiomatic performances and warmly immediate recording, making for a fine conclusion to this worthwhile series.

Stephen Dodgson: String Quartets Volume 3

2 CDs

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