Haydn: String Quartets, Vol. 1

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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, 3 out of 5 stars More…

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

Gramophone Magazine

December 2014

Editor's Choice
Gramophone Awards

2015

Finalist - Chamber

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

Work length25:27

$5.30

$6.50

$8.00

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

I. Allegro moderato

Track length9:20

$1.60

$1.95

$2.40

II. Menuetto: Allegretto

Track length3:47

$1.05

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III. Affetuoso e sostenuto

Track length8:35

$1.60

$1.95

$2.40

IV. Finale: Presto

Track length3:45

$1.05

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

Work length23:10

$4.75

$5.85

$7.20

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

I. Moderato

Track length9:37

$1.60

$1.95

$2.40

II. Capriccio: Adagio

Track length6:45

$1.05

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$1.60

III. Minuet: Allegretto

Track length3:34

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IV. Fuga a quattro soggetti

Track length3:14

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

Work length25:49

$5.30

$6.50

$8.00

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

I. Allegro con spirito

Track length7:58

$1.60

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$2.40

II. Minuet: Allegretto

Track length4:19

$1.05

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III. Poco adagio

Track length9:46

$1.60

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IV. Finale: Allegro di molto

Track length3:46

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

Work length29:26

$5.85

$7.15

$8.80

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

I. Allegro di molto

Track length11:00

$2.15

$2.60

$3.20

II. Un poco adagio e affettuoso

Track length9:46

$1.60

$1.95

$2.40

III. Menuet alla Zingarese: Allegretto

Track length1:41

$1.05

$1.30

$1.60

IV. Presto e scherzando

Track length6:59

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

Work length25:39

$5.30

$6.50

$8.00

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

I. Moderato

Track length11:18

$2.15

$2.60

$3.20

II. Menuet

Track length5:05

$1.05

$1.30

$1.60

III. Adagio

Track length6:30

$1.05

$1.30

$1.60

IV. Finale: Fuga a due soggetti

Track length2:46

$1.05

$1.30

$1.60

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

Work length20:22

$4.75

$5.85

$7.20

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

I. Allegro di molto e scherzando

Track length8:43

$1.60

$1.95

$2.40

II. Adagio: Cantabile

Track length6:07

$1.05

$1.30

$1.60

III. Menuetto: Allegretto

Track length2:37

$1.05

$1.30

$1.60

IV. Fuga a 3 soggetti: Allegro

Track length2:55

$1.05

$1.30

$1.60

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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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