Haydn: String Quartets, Vol. 1

The Doric Quartet, making sparing use of vibrato, play with much sensitivity. Their slow movements, in particular, are beautifully done...But elsewhere a determination to characterise the music... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2015, More…

Release Date: 29th Sep 2014
Catalogue No: CHAN10831(2)
Label: Chandos
Length: 2 hours 29 minutes

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December 2014

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Finalist - Chamber

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Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 1 in E flat major

25:27

$5.00

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$8.75

Doric String Quartet
Recorded: 7-9 October 2013
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom

I. Allegro moderato

9:20

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$2.40

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II. Menuetto: Allegretto

3:47

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III. Affetuoso e sostenuto

8:35

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IV. Finale: Presto

3:45

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Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 2 in C Major

23:10

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$8.75

Doric String Quartet
Recorded: 2-4 December 2013
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom

I. Moderato

9:37

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II. Capriccio: Adagio

6:45

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III. Minuet: Allegretto

3:34

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IV. Fuga a quattro soggetti

3:14

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Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 3 in G minor

25:49

$6.00

$7.20

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Doric String Quartet
Recorded: 7-9 October 2013
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom

I. Allegro con spirito

7:58

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II. Minuet: Allegretto

4:19

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III. Poco adagio

9:46

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IV. Finale: Allegro di molto

3:46

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Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 4 in D major 'Sun'

29:26

$7.00

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Doric String Quartet
Recorded: 2-4 December 2013
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom

I. Allegro di molto

11:00

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$3.60

$5.25

II. Un poco adagio e affettuoso

9:46

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III. Menuet alla Zingarese: Allegretto

1:41

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IV. Presto e scherzando

6:59

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Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 5 in F minor

25:39

$6.00

$7.20

$10.50

Doric String Quartet
Recorded: 7-9 October 2013
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom

I. Moderato

11:18

$3.00

$3.60

$5.25

II. Menuet

5:05

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$1.75

III. Adagio

6:30

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IV. Finale: Fuga a due soggetti

2:46

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Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 6 in A Major

20:22

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$8.75

Doric String Quartet
Recorded: 2-4 December 2013
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom

I. Allegro di molto e scherzando

8:43

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II. Adagio: Cantabile

6:07

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III. Menuetto: Allegretto

2:37

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IV. Fuga a 3 soggetti: Allegro

2:55

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Haydn’s six Op. 20 string quartets are milestones in the history of the genre. He wrote them in 1772 for performance by his colleagues at the Esterházy court and, unusually, not specifically for publication. Each one is a unique masterpiece and the set introduces compositional techniques that radically transformed the genre and shaped it for centuries to come. Haydn overturns conventional instrumental roles, crafts remarkably original colours and textures, and unlocks new expressive possibilities in these works which were crucial in establishing the reputation of purely instrumental music. The range within the quartets is kaleidoscopic. From the introspective, chorale-like slow movement of No. 1 via the terse and radical quartet No. 3 in G minor to the comic spirit of the fourth in D major, each of the quartets inhabits a distinct musical world. For many, this is some of the greatest music Haydn ever wrote.

Playing these seminal works is one of the world’s finest young ensembles, the Doric String Quartet. As well as having already produced a string of acclaimed recordings on Chandos, the group has been widely praised for its live performances of Haydn’s works. The Sunday Telegraph wrote that ‘Haydn and the Doric are a perfect match… Unequivocally, these were performances of terrific panache and perception, seeming to get right under the skin of Haydn’s creative genius’.

Reviews

January 2015

The Doric Quartet, making sparing use of vibrato, play with much sensitivity. Their slow movements, in particular, are beautifully done...But elsewhere a determination to characterise the music all too often leads to exaggerated pauses and tempo fluctuations that threaten its coherence.

5th December 2014

The musicians of the Doric String Quartet respond with imagination to each fresh idea, bringing into play a lightness of touch, much spirit and — this being Haydn — wit. Above all, they fill the two-disc set with affection for Haydn’s inexhaustible creativity.

December 2014

Thoughtfulness is uppermost. Allied to precision in articulation is a flexibility in the scansion and shaping of phrases, of notes timed through a remarkable understanding of rubato, of a range of expressive resilience that gives even the smallest of episodes in a long line their own character without distorting structure or disturbing flow.

27th October 2014

The spirit and stylistic understanding that the Doric brings to this music is a constant joy, coupled with clarity of articulation, refined but unfussy nuances of dynamics and emphasis, and a thorough appreciation of the instrumental democracy and conversational ease that Haydn established in this music and which made it such a landmark in the art of quartet-writing.

Haydn: String Quartets, Vol. 1

2 CDs

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