Chiaroscuro

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Another superb album from our 2018 Awards newcomer . Who knew quartets by Glass and Janáček could complement each other as well as they do in this eclectic concept album? — BBC Music Magazine, August 2019, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 17th May 2019
Catalogue No: 0301213BC
Label: Berlin Classics
Length: 69 minutes

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Mozart: Fugues from Das wohltemperierte Klavier, K405

Work length1:56

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Schumann Quartett

No. 3, Fugue in E Major (from BWV 878)

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Mendelssohn: Fugue in E flat major, Op. 81 No. 4

Work length5:19

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Schumann Quartett

Mozart: Fugues from Das wohltemperierte Klavier, K405

Work length1:37

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No. 1, Fugue in C Minor (from BWV 871)

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Glass, P: String Quartet No. 2 'Company'

Work length8:47

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Schumann Quartett

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II.

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III.

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IV.

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Mozart: Fugues from Das wohltemperierte Klavier, K405

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No. 2, Fugue in E-Flat Major (from BWV 876)

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Shostakovich: Two Pieces for String Quartet (Elegy & Polka), Op. 36a

Work length7:03

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Schumann Quartett

No. 1, Elegy: Adagio (Arr. From Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Op. 29, Act I Scene 3: Zherebyonok k kobylke toropitsa)

Track length4:28

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No. 2, Polka: Allegretto (Arr. From the Golden Age Suite, Op. 22a: III. Polka)

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Mozart: Fugues from Das wohltemperierte Klavier, K405

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No. 4, Fugue in D Minor (from BWV 877)

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Webern: Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9 (1911-1913)

Work length4:30

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Schumann Quartett

Mozart: Fugues from Das wohltemperierte Klavier, K405

Work length2:40

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No. 5, Fugue in D Major (from BWV 874)

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Janáček: String Quartet No. 2 'Intimate Letters'

Work length25:21

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Schumann Quartett

I. Andante - Con moto - Allegro

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II. Adagio - Vivace

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III. Moderato - Adagio - Allegro

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IV. Allegro - Andante - Adagio

Track length8:06

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Gershwin: Lullaby for Strings

Work length8:11

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Schumann Quartett

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We are standing in a picture gallery of music. All around us we can hear snippets of the great works for string quartets, along with unfamiliar things to delight the ear; it is truly a music-lover’s paradise. Chiaroscuro forms the conclusion of a rather special trilogy of albums by the Schumann Quartet and at the same time marks a journey’s end.

After searching for their own roots in Landscapes and engaging with their namesake Robert Schumann in Intermezzo, the four musicians complete their trilogy with the album Chiaroscuro, which in itself represents an equally exciting journey through time and temperament. By way of Mozart’s arrangements of five selected fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier II they look left and right into very different musical rooms. There are two early pieces for string quartet by Shostakovich, Philip Glass’s “Company” string quartet, a short fugue by Felix Mendelssohn, and the Six Bagatelles op.9 by Anton Webern. The whole promenade culminates in Janáček’s last work, his Second String Quartet.

Chiaroscuro – Italian for “light and dark” – is the name of the programme. The Schumann Quartet combines works that could not be more different. It is a question of the “unity that the album forms”, perhaps not in spite of, but just because of the contrasts. And when at the very end of the album, at the very end of the whole trilogy, we hear Gershwin’s Lullaby, we cannot shake off the feeling that all this is such stuff as dreams are made of.

Reviews

August 2019

Another superb album from our 2018 Awards newcomer . Who knew quartets by Glass and Janáček could complement each other as well as they do in this eclectic concept album?

March/April 2020

Although all the performances on it are commendable, the true prize of the disc is that of the Janáček “Intimate Letters” Quartet...the Schumann Quartet’s performance is unmatched. These excellent performances are recorded in spacious, smooth, detailed, and well-balanced sound. Despite its somewhat unusual layout and seemingly incongruous assortment of works, this release turns out to be a compelling string quartet recital.

16th June 2019

The playing, particularly in Janáček’s String Quartet No 2 “Intimate Letters”, is outstanding.

Chiaroscuro

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