Mendelssohn: String Quartets

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Especially impressive is the players’ exceptional management of dynamic gradations. Their pps are intimate whispers in our ears, and even within ffs there are variations of amplitude such that... — Fanfare, March/April 2020 More…

Release Date: 12th Jul 2019
Catalogue No: CDX-21202
Label: Divox
Length: 58 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 2, op. 13 (1827) a-minor

Work length29:56

$8.00

$10.35

Kazakh State String Quartet

I. Adagio - Allegro vivace

Track length7:38

$2.00

$2.60

II. Adagio non lento

Track length7:41

$2.00

$2.60

III. Intermezzo. Allegretto con moto - Allegro di molto

Track length4:37

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Presto - Adagio non lento

Track length10:00

$3.00

$3.85

Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 3, op. 44.1 (1838) D Major

Work length28:10

$6.00

$7.80

Kazakh State String Quartet

I. Molto allegro vivace

Track length9:38

$2.00

$2.60

II. Menuetto. Un poco allegretto

Track length5:39

$1.00

$1.30

III. Andante espressivo ma con moto

Track length5:47

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Presto con brio

Track length7:06

$2.00

$2.60

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About

At the age of 18, Felix Mendelssohn composed his String Quartet Op. 13, one of his major early works. The fact that it was written after Beethoven’s death reveals a wealth of references: the youthful master experimented blithely with form and content. The Quartet also has an autobiographical component going back to the song “Frage” (“Question”), the beginning of which (underlaid with the question “Ist es wahr?” – “Is it true?”) provides the motto of the first movement and returns toward the end of the finale – a very personal message from Mendelssohn. The Quartet Op. 44/1 was written during a period of infatuation with Cecile Jeanrenaud, whom he married in 1837. Here the mature mastery of the composer is palpable; everything arises from his own intuition. He creates a fascinating symbiosis of traditional classical form and romantic stylistics which is profoundly his own and radiates great unity – in addition to a wealth of musical themes, harmonic impulses, a songful, emotional slow movement and a rousing, virtuoso scherzo and finale. This music is performed with profound passion by the young musicians of the Kazakh State String Quartet.

Reviews

March/April 2020

Especially impressive is the players’ exceptional management of dynamic gradations. Their pps are intimate whispers in our ears, and even within ffs there are variations of amplitude such that no two sound exactly alike. Technique of virtuosic command married to musicianship of the most excellent virtue add up to a recommendation of the highest order.

Mendelssohn: String Quartets

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