Elmira Darvarova, Mary Ann Mumm, Craig Mumm, Samuel Magill - Alfano: Complete String Quartets (2023)

Tracklist

01. String Quartet No. 1 in D Major (1924 Version): I. Vivacissimo
02. String Quartet No. 1 in D Major (1924 Version): II. Calmo
03. String Quartet No. 1 in D Major (1924 Version): III. Largo - Allegro deciso
04. String Quartet No. 2 in Tre Tempi Collegati in C Major: I. Largo assai
05. String Quartet No. 2 in Tre Tempi Collegati in C Major: II. Allegretto semplice (come una canzoncina per bimbi)
06. String Quartet No. 2 in Tre Tempi Collegati in C Major: III. Molto allegro
07. String Quartet No. 3 in G Minor: I. Largo
08. String Quartet No. 3 in G Minor: II. Allegretto
09. String Quartet No. 3 in G Minor: III. Allegro

The Neapolitan composer Franco Alfano was prolific and highly successful in the field of opera, but he also composed three string quartets over a period framed by the two world wars. No. 1 in D major was written during the First World War and stretches the limits of the quartet medium with its quasi-orchestral vigour, tied together with a habanera rhythm. No. 2 in C major In Three Linked Movements, though smaller in scale, reflects the range of Alfano’s influences, which include Russian and Eastern European music, rustic dances and French impressionism. Work on No. 3 in G minor was started in 1944, a year after the death of his beloved wife, to whom Alfano pays tribute in the haunting first movement. The quartet was completed in 1945 and ends with an ebullient monothematic march finale celebrating Ancient Rome.

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