Bridge String Quartet - Cooke: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 2 (2025) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. String Quartet No. 4: I. Allegro
02. String Quartet No. 4: II. Scherzo. Molto allegro
03. String Quartet No. 4: III. Adagio
04. String Quartet No. 4: IV. Allegro vivace
05. Variations on an Original Theme: Theme. Allegretto simplice
06. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 1, L'istesso tempo
07. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 2, Più agitato
08. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 3
09. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 4, Lento e tranquillo
10. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 5, Vivace
11. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 6, Canon. Andante
12. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 7, Scherzo. Allegro molto
13. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 8, Andante con moto
14. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 9, Più lento
15. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 10, Alla marcia
16. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 11, Adagio ma non troppo
17. Variations on an Original Theme: Var. 12, Fuga. Allegro
18. String Quartet No. 2: I. Adagio - Allegro moderato
19. String Quartet No. 2: II. Scherzo. Allegro
20. String Quartet No. 2: III. Andante
21. String Quartet No. 2: IV. Molto allegro

The music of the Yorkshire-born Arnold Cooke (1906–2005) – inventively contrapuntal, lyrical and energetic in turns – does not deserve the neglect it suffered even in its composer’s lifetime. This second album of two presenting all five of Cooke’s string quartets underlines his reputation for resourceful craftsmanship, presented in a style which sits downstream from Hindemith, with whom he studied in Berlin, and from Bartók. There is also a surprisingly strong dance element in all three works heard here, though tempered, even in their lighter moments, by something of the emotional reticence of Britten’s quartets.

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