Escher String Quartet - Zemlinsky: String Quartets, Volume 1-2 (2013/2014)

Tracklist


Volume 1
01. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 19: I. Allegretto: Gemächlich, innig bewegt
02. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 19: II. Thema mit Variationen. Geheimnisvoll bewegt, nich zu schnell-Variationen I-VII
03. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 19: III. Romanze (Sehr mässige Achtel, Andante sostenuto)
04. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 19: IV. Burleske: Sehr lebhaft, Allegro moderato
05. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25, "Suite": I. Präludium (Poco adagio)
06. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25, "Suite": II. Burleske (Vivace)
07. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25, "Suite": III. Adagietto (Adagio)
08. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25, "Suite": IV. Intermezzo (Allegretto)
09. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25, "Suite": V. Barcarole (Thema mit Variationen) [Poco adagio]
10. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25, "Suite": VI. Finale (Allegro molto energico)
11. 2 Sätze (1927): 1. Introduction: Andante con moto-Vivace
12. 2 Sätze (1927): 2. Adagio, misterioso-Tempo di minuett

Alexander Zemlinsky’s four numbered string quartets span some four decades, moving from the conservatism of his Brahms-inspired youth to the experimental works of his mature years. Written just after the Lyric Symphony (Naxos 8.572048), the Third Quartet is constructed in a cool, austere language far removed from the emotional, expressionistic atmosphere of the Second Quartet. The Fourth Quartet, written in memory of Alban Berg, is a fitting conclusion to an important body of work bridging the Romantic world of the nineteenth century to the modern age of the twentieth. Quartets Nos 1 and 2 will follow on Naxos 8.573088.



Volume 2
01. String Quartet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 4: I. Allegro con fuoco
02. String Quartet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 4: II. Allegretto-Etwas schneller als früher-Tempo di allegretto
03. String Quartet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 4: III. Breit und kräftig
04. String Quartet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 4: IV. Vivace e con fuoco
05. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15: I. Sehr mäßig (quasi andante)-Heftig und leidenschaftlich -
06. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15: II. Adagio -
07. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15: III. Schnell (die Achtel) -
08. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15: IV. Andante
09. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15: V. Langsam


By 1896, at the age of twenty-five, Alexander Zemlinsky was one of the rising stars in the Viennese musical firmament. His first opera had been written, he had won a number of awards, and he had earned the support of Johannes Brahms. In July of the same year he began writing his First String Quartet, a work of sweeping lyricism, rich dance patterns, and self-confidence, couched within the bounds of a relatively conventional palette. Seventeen years later he began his Second String Quartet. Kaleidoscopic in effect, mood, and technical demands, and redolent of the music of the new century—led by his brother-in-law Arnold Schoenberg—it was to place Zemlinsky securely in the European avant-garde.

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