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Debussy: String Quartet & Sonatas

The Nash Ensemble

Debussy: String Quartet & Sonatas

Awards:

Musical lines pass in a single, continuous breath from one instrument to the next, and the sensual, dreamlike soundscapes are tinged with immaculately drawn moments of both despair and joy....

Debussy: String Quartet & Sonatas

The Nash Ensemble

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Awards:

Musical lines pass in a single, continuous breath from one instrument to the next, and the sensual, dreamlike soundscapes are tinged with immaculately drawn moments of both despair and joy....

About

The personnel may have changed over the years but the musical standards remain reassuringly high. Currently celebrating its 60th anniversary season, The Nash Ensemble here delivers perfectly judged accounts of Debussy's String Quartet & Sonatas.

Besides that early quartet and the three sonatas which date from the composer's final years, the programme also includes a rare outing for David Walter's chamber ensemble arrangement of the Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune.

Scored for twelve players (single strings and winds, plus harp and crotales), this is an idiomatic version which loses none of the mastery and languor of the orchestral original. This album again demonstrates the truth of The Sunday Times's evaluation of the Nash: 'chamber music royalty'.

From two players to twelve: few ensembles could respond with equal authority to the very varied demands made by this wonderful collection of Debussy's chamber music. But then, few ensembles can stand comparison with the Nash, whose members continue to set the standards across a dauntingly wide repertoire. A realization of the Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune for chamber ensemble adds to this album's more familiar attractions of the string quartet and three sonatas.

Contents and tracklist

I. Allegro vivo
Track length5:16
II. Intermède. Fantasque et léger
Track length4:15
III. Finale. Très animé
Track length4:27
I. Pastorale. Lento, dolce rubato
Track length6:39
II. Interlude. Tempo di minuetto
Track length5:48
III. Finale. Allegro moderato ma risoluto
Track length4:45
I. Prologue. Lent, sostenuto et molto risoluto
Track length4:42
II. Sérénade. Modérément animé
Track length3:16
III. Finale. Animé, léger et nerveux
Track length3:48
I. Animé et très décidé
Track length6:23
II. Scherzo. Assez vif et bien rythmé
Track length3:46
III. Andantino, doucement expressif
Track length7:24
IV. Très modéré – Très mouvementé – Très animé
Track length7:12

Awards and reviews

  • Gramophone Magazine
    February 2025
    Editor's Choice
  • BBC Music Magazine
    March 2025
    Chamber Choice

March 2025

Musical lines pass in a single, continuous breath from one instrument to the next, and the sensual, dreamlike soundscapes are tinged with immaculately drawn moments of both despair and joy. An alluring and, in time, vintage recording.

February 2025

Debussy’s sole String Quartet ends the disc...The Nash’s fleet-footed reading is enormously enjoyable, as is this entire disc.

16th January 2025

While the account of the string quartet seems rather pallid alongside the best versions available on disc, the performances of the three sonatas are all outstanding...It’s great music played with all the warmth and understanding it needs.

7th January 2025

Sixty years have told us that with the Nash Ensemble’s musicians, whatever their repertoire, nothing can ever really go wrong.
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