Doric String Quartet - Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 2 (2024)

Tracklist

CD1
01. String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: I. Allegro
02. String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: II. Adagio cantabile
03. String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: III. Scherzo. Allegro
04. String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: IV. Allegro molto, quasi presto
05. String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1825 Version): I. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro
06. String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1825 Version): II. Presto
07. String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1825 Version): III. Andante con moto ma non troppo
08. String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1825 Version): IV. Alla danza tedesca. Allegro assai
09. String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1825 Version): V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo
10. String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1825 Version): VI. Große Fuge, Op. 133
11. String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 (1826 Version): VI. Finale. Allegro

CD2
01. String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: I. Allegro
02. String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: II. Minuet
03. String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: III. Andante cantabile con variazioni
04. String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: IV. Allegro
05. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 "Razumovsky No. 2": I. Allegro
06. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 "Razumovsky No. 2": II. Molto adagio
07. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 "Razumovsky No. 2": III. Allegretto
08. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 "Razumovsky No. 2": IV. Finale. Presto

For this second volume of Beethoven’s string quartets, the Doric String Quartet has combined one middle period, one late, and two early quartets to create a programme that works on its own terms, as well as forming part of the complete cycle. The musicians start off with a vivid performance of Op. 18 No. 2, following it with the Quartet, Op. 130, in which, as finale, they perform the Große Fugue (Op. 133), as Beethoven long contemplated it. They have appended the alternative finale, first published with Op. 130, thus allowing the listener to choose either version. Op. 18 No. 5 in A major is then followed by Op. 59 No. 2 in E minor. Op. 18, Beethoven’s first set of quartets, often show influences from the quartets of Haydn and Mozart, albeit very much filtered through Beethoven’s original artistic sensibility. The second set, the three ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets, Op. 59, was written in a golden period of the composer’s creative life (alongside the Fourth Symphony, Violin Concerto, and Fidelio) and shows both development from the earlier set and a powerful distinctness. Although mis-understood (or found incomprehensible) by their first audiences, Beethoven’s late quartets have become universally admired as among the pinnacles of western art music. Stravinsky considered the Große Fuge ‘an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever’.

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