Mendelssohn / Kuijk- Complete String Quartets Vol. 2 (CD)
After a first volume praised by the press, including an Editor's Choice in Gramophone, the Quatuor Van Kuijk concludes it's complete recording of Mendelssohn's string quartets with op.44 nos. 2 and 3 and the Quartet op.80, which bears the mark of the sudden death in 1847 of his sister Fanny, to whom he was very close, at the age of only forty-two. As Stéphane Goldet writes in the booklet: 'The act of resistance that is the Quartet op.80, written in a single burst during the summer of 1847, it's overwhelming "No, not that, not her!" shouted by four instruments for twenty-five minutes, was to be the composer's last completed work. The four movements of this "confrontation with grief" (Bernard Fournier) in F minor are to be played con dolore, although that marking never appears in the score.' She goes on to quote Brigitte François-Sappey: 'This "Requiem for Fanny" might be called "Death and the Young Woman". As in Schubert's last two quartets, the strings shiver in tremolos over ostinato pedals, like death knells.'
Tracklist:
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~I. Allegro vivace assai
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~II. Allegro assai
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~III. Adagio
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~IV. Finale. Allegro molto
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~I. Allegro assai appassionato
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~II. Scherzo. Allegro di molto
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~III. Andante
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~IV. Presto agitato
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~I. Allegro vivace
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~II. Scherzo. Assai leggierto vivace
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~III. Adagio non troppo
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~IV. Molto allegro con fuoco
After a first volume praised by the press, including an Editor's Choice in Gramophone, the Quatuor Van Kuijk concludes it's complete recording of Mendelssohn's string quartets with op.44 nos. 2 and 3 and the Quartet op.80, which bears the mark of the sudden death in 1847 of his sister Fanny, to whom he was very close, at the age of only forty-two. As Stéphane Goldet writes in the booklet: 'The act of resistance that is the Quartet op.80, written in a single burst during the summer of 1847, it's overwhelming "No, not that, not her!" shouted by four instruments for twenty-five minutes, was to be the composer's last completed work. The four movements of this "confrontation with grief" (Bernard Fournier) in F minor are to be played con dolore, although that marking never appears in the score.' She goes on to quote Brigitte François-Sappey: 'This "Requiem for Fanny" might be called "Death and the Young Woman". As in Schubert's last two quartets, the strings shiver in tremolos over ostinato pedals, like death knells.'
Tracklist:
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~I. Allegro vivace assai
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~II. Allegro assai
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~III. Adagio
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80~IV. Finale. Allegro molto
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~I. Allegro assai appassionato
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~II. Scherzo. Allegro di molto
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~III. Andante
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2~IV. Presto agitato
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~I. Allegro vivace
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~II. Scherzo. Assai leggierto vivace
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~III. Adagio non troppo
- String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3~IV. Molto allegro con fuoco