Doric String Quartet - Mendelssohn: String Quartets, Vol. 1 (2018) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Alongside its ongoing and much lauded Haydn and Schubert series, both on-stage and on-record, the Doric String Quartet with this Mendelssohn album is adding a new milestone in its repertoire.

Mendelssohn wrote and published these three quartets at very different stages in his life and they therefore outline the complete trajectory of his creative output.

The early Op. 12, also called No. 1, was composed in London and includes many musical allusions to Beethoven, dead only a few years before its composition. These subtly contrast with Mendelssohn’s genially flowing energy.

While Op. 44 No. 3, which incorporates many deft variations, developments, and combinations, follows an extended honeymoon tour and Mendelssohn’s twenty-ninth birthday, Op. 80 emerged from a bout of helpless depression after the sudden death of Mendelssohn’s older sister and confidante, Fanny. Mendelssohn described this quartet as a Requiem, and the nervous agitation often found in his music here bursts forth with full force. Resignation, agitation, and nostalgia shape the work, the almost shocking finality of which may be said to prefigure Mendelssohn’s own death only six months later.

“… the Doric enter the first movement of the Op. 12 Quartet with assurance in that musical world. There is confidence and unanimity of approach to dynamics, tone vibrato and rubato; and the change of style to the more elegantly Mendelssohnian ‘Canzonetta’ is effortlessly made. The naturalness of the playing is matched by the comprehensive Chandos sound: not too distant, and with exactly the right amount of resonance …” (Martin Cotton, BBC Music magazine)

Tracklist:
Disc 1 (51:55)
1. String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: I. Adagio non troppo - Allegro non tardante (07:31)
2. String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: II. Canzonetta. Allegretto - Più mosso (04:07)
3. String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: III. Andante espressivo (04:18)
4. String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: IV. Molto allegro e vivace (08:11)
5. String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: I. Allegro vivace assai (07:45)
6. String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: II. Allegro assai (06:01)
7. String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: III. Adagio (08:07)
8. String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: IV. Finale. Allegro molto (05:55)

Disc 2 (34:29)
1. String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: I. Allegro vivace (12:31)
2. String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: II. Scherzo. Assai leggiero e vivace (04:08)
3. String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: III. Adagio non troppo (09:28)
4. String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: IV. Molto allegro con fuoco (08:22)


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