Esmé Quartet - Nui (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. String Quartet in E-Flat Major, HelH 277: I. Adagio ma non troppo
02. String Quartet in E-Flat Major, HelH 277: II. Allegretto
03. String Quartet in E-Flat Major, HelH 277: III. Romanze
04. String Quartet in E-Flat Major, HelH 277: IV. Allegro molto vivace
05. river at the end of the mind
06. String Quartet No. 6, Op. 80, MWV R37: I. Allegro vivace assai
07. String Quartet No. 6, Op. 80, MWV R37: II. Allegro assai
08. String Quartet No. 6, Op. 80, MWV R37: III. Adagio
09. String Quartet No. 6, Op. 80, MWV R37: IV. Finale. Allegro molto

This album – the third to be released on Alpha Classics – is entitled Nui (a Korean word meaning ‘sister’). The Esmé Quartet pays tribute to Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, with Fanny’s Quartet in E-Flat major, written during the final year of her life, which finds a poignant echo in Felix’s Quartet No. 6 in F minor, written in the aftermath of his sister’s sudden death: The Esmé Quartet hears in Fanny’s Quartet an “intimate and penetrating voice, reaching outwards with urgency, tenderness and vulnerability.”

The programme also features a new work commissioned from the Korean-American composer Juri Seo, inspired by the traditional Korean song Eommaya nunaya (“Mother, Sister”). “This song evokes a peaceful, distant place where loved ones gather and the heart finds rest, offering a quiet sense of comfort that resonates naturally with the emotional landscape of the Mendelssohns,” concludes the Esmé Quartet, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary with this new recording.