Blair String Quartet - Charles Ives: String Quartets (2006)
Blair String Quartet - Charles Ives: String Quartets (2006)
EAC | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 50:19 | 244 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Naxos | Catalog: 8.559178
EAC | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 50:19 | 244 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Naxos | Catalog: 8.559178
It has been awhile since anyone recorded a new disc of Charles Ives' string quartets, and here the Blair String Quartet takes the plunge. He only wrote two numbered quartets that are like equivalents to night and day – the radiant, camp meeting-inspired First Quartet and the furiously punk-meets-transcendentalism Second. String Quartet No. 1, "From the Salvation Army," dates from 1898 and contains some of Ives' finest instrumental music couched in a reasonably stable and conventional style. The opening Chorale of the First Quartet is decidedly not played at a pace of Andante and appears uncharacteristically zippy. The Blair, in its haste, fudges a key transition in the last third of the piece. However, this need for speed works well for the second-movement Prelude, although it fails to cover for a rough edit at one point. The Offertory is all right, but experienced ears are starved for more "love" in this music – a case of point would be the old Vox LP of the First Quartet by the Kohon String Quartet, where the music is handled lovingly, and not in a winking, tongue-in-cheek manner.
The only other works Ives wrote for string quartet are the Scherzo Holding Your Own and the Intermezzo from the cantata The Celestial Country. Here the Blair opts only for the Scherzo, and it's good – the quartet does a decent job of spelling out the wedge shape in the middle section, which you are supposed to be able to see in your mind in addition to hearing. It is a pity the Blair did not include the Intermezzo, which would have made this survey truly complete, not to mention bringing the program past the 50-minute mark. Judging from the way the similar First Quartet comes off, perhaps it's for the better that the Blair Quartet didn't record it.
The Blair seem almost impatient to get to the Second Quartet, which is a work they seem to know well and have probably played for a while, judging from the gloss and sheen on the second-movement "Arguments," which is normally pretty messy business. The opening of "The Call of the Mountains" is very nicely done and paced with a view to achieve the hypnotic transcendence that Ives indicates were his intentions. Nevertheless, once you get into the three against four sections, the reading tends to get a little sharply defined and propulsive – rather stirring up the mood. Therefore, while the Blair turns in a good reading of the Second Quartet, it's still a mixed bag. If you need an inexpensive recording of the Ives quartets, then this will fit the bill, although one almost wishes for such purpose that Vox would simply bring the Kohon Quartet recording back.
Blair String Quartet - Charles Ives: String Quartets (2006)
Track List:
String Quartet No. 1 (From the Salvation Army)
1. I. Chorale (Andante con moto)
2. II. Prelude (Allegro)
3. III. Offertory (Adagio cantabile)
4. IV. Postlude (Allegro marziale)
5. Scherzo
String Quartet No. 2
6. I. Discussions (Andante moderato - Andante con spirito - Adagio molto)
7. II. Arguments (Allegro con spirito)
8. III. The Call of the Mountains (Adagio - Andante - Adagio)
Performers:
Blair String Quartet
Christian Teal, Violin
Cornelia Heard, Violin
John Kochanowski, viola
Felix Wang, cello
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 7. May 2009, 19:50
Blair String Quartet / Charles Ives - String Quartets
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-T20N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
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Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
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Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:02.10 | 0 | 22659
2 | 5:02.10 | 5:54.02 | 22660 | 49211
3 | 10:56.12 | 5:35.12 | 49212 | 74348
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5 | 21:48.54 | 1:42.08 | 98154 | 105811
6 | 23:30.62 | 10:06.67 | 105812 | 151328
7 | 33:37.54 | 4:50.06 | 151329 | 173084
8 | 38:27.60 | 11:49.15 | 173085 | 226274
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Track 4
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Track 6
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Track 7
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Track 8
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EAC extraction logfile from 7. May 2009, 19:50
Blair String Quartet / Charles Ives - String Quartets
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-T20N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 768 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:02.10 | 0 | 22659
2 | 5:02.10 | 5:54.02 | 22660 | 49211
3 | 10:56.12 | 5:35.12 | 49212 | 74348
4 | 16:31.24 | 5:17.30 | 74349 | 98153
5 | 21:48.54 | 1:42.08 | 98154 | 105811
6 | 23:30.62 | 10:06.67 | 105812 | 151328
7 | 33:37.54 | 4:50.06 | 151329 | 173084
8 | 38:27.60 | 11:49.15 | 173085 | 226274
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Track 2
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 3
Filename D:\ista\Blair String Quartet\Charles Ives - String Quartets\03 - String Quartet No. 1 (From the Salvation Army) - Offertory (Adagio cantabile).wav
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Track 4
Filename D:\ista\Blair String Quartet\Charles Ives - String Quartets\04 - String Quartet No. 1 (From the Salvation Army) - Postlude (Allegro marziale).wav
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Track 6
Filename D:\ista\Blair String Quartet\Charles Ives - String Quartets\06 - String Quartet No. 2 - Discussions (Andante moderato - Andante con spirito - Adagio molto).wav
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Track 7
Filename D:\ista\Blair String Quartet\Charles Ives - String Quartets\07 - String Quartet No. 2 - Arguments (Allegro con spirito).wav
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Track 8
Filename D:\ista\Blair String Quartet\Charles Ives - String Quartets\08 - String Quartet No. 2 - The Call of the Mountains (Adagio - Andante - Adagio).wav
Peak level 61.3 %
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
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End of status report
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