Volume 26 Issue 6 - March and April 2021

emotional depth.
The political situation in Hungary at the end of the Great War badly
hindered Bartók’s folk music research and deeply affected him; he
wrote very little until an outpouring of piano music in 1926. The
following year saw his String Quartet No.3 Sz.85, the shortest of his
six quartets but the one that heralded his mature style.
Mozart’s String Quartet No.19 in C Major K465 “Dissonance” dates
from 1785, and is the last of the six quartets Mozart dedicated to
Haydn, whose Op.33 quartets he had heard after arriving in Vienna in
1781. Study of the music of Bach and Handel at that time resulted in a
more marked presence of counterpoint in Mozart’s music.
There’s outstanding playing throughout the CD, but the Mozart, in
particular, is absolutely beautiful, with clarity and warmth and a
crystal-clear Allegro final movement.
With Vagn Holmboe String Quartets Vol.1
Denmark’s Nightingale String Quartet
embarks on what promises to be an
outstanding set of quartets by the Danish
composer who lived from 1909 to 1996
(Dacapo 8.226212 dacapo-records.dk/en).
Holmboe wrote quartets throughout his
life and completed over 30, 22 of which are
in his official catalogue. Although his lasting
role model was Haydn, Bartók’s quartets also became a big influence.
Holmboe had already written ten unpublished quartets before his
three-movement String Quartet No.1 Op.46 from 1949, subtitled In
memoriam Béla Bartók. The other two works on this first volume are
the five-movement String Quartet No.3 Op.48, also from 1949, and
the four-movement String Quartet No.15 Op.135 from 1978, its third
movement Funèbre very much of Shostakovich’s sound world.
Interestingly – in 2010 – Dacapo, Denmark’s national record label,
issued a 7CD box set of the complete 22 Holmboe quartets, apparently
assembled from individual issues from the late 1990s and performed
by the Kontra Quartet, who “enjoyed a close collaboration with the
composer.” This new project promises “fresh, new performances that
support the idea that the deeper you dig into Holmboe’s music, the
more you find.”
The terrific performances here certainly make a great start.
The Oculi Ensemble is a flexible string ensemble comprised primarily
of members of leading string quartets and dedicated to exploring
string repertoire for two to seven players. Metamorphosen – Strauss
Chamber Works is their debut CD as a stand-alone ensemble (Champs
Hill Records CHRCD155 champshillrecords.co.uk).
The Prelude to the opera Capriccio Op.85
from 1940-41 opens the disc, followed by
two works for string quartet: the extremely
brief fragment Quartettsatz in E-flat Major
TRV85 from 1879 (recorded with the permission
of the Strauss family) and the String
Quartet in A Major from 1880. Three brief
works for piano quartet follow: Ständchen
from the early 1880s; Festmarsch AV178
from November 1886; and the Two Pieces AV182 – Arabischer Tanz
and Liebesliedchen from 1893.
The title track completes the CD. Commissioned for 23 solo strings,
Metamorphosen wasn’t finished until after the February 1945 Allied
bombing raid that destroyed Strauss’ beloved Dresden, Strauss
completing a draft short-score for seven solo strings that March. That
manuscript was rediscovered in Switzerland in 1990 and edited for
performance by cellist Rudolf Leopold in 1994. Impassioned playing,
recorded in the excellent acoustics of the Music Room at Champs Hill,
West Sussex, ends a highly commendable CD.
The excellent new CD by the Jupiter
and Jasper String Quartets, music by
Mendelssohn – Visconti – Golijov simply
abounds with familial relationships, three
Freivogel siblings (a brother and two sisters)
and two spouses making for a remarkably
close connection between the two ensembles
(Marquis 81613 marquisclassics.com/
index.html).
A luminous opening to the Mendelssohn Octet in E-flat Major
Op.20 sets the tone for a simply thrilling performance – vibrant,
pulsating and dynamic with a dancing Scherzo and a sweeping
Presto finale.
Dan Visconti’s quite beautiful Eternal Breath, envisioned as a work
that would involve their four children and their musical spouses, was
commissioned in 2011 by the Freivogel parents (who also funded the
recording) for their 40th wedding anniversary. Originally for three
violins, a viola, three cellos and a drone box, it is heard here in the
later adaptation with a second viola replacing the third cello.
Osvaldo Golijov’s two-movement Last Round from 1996 is a tribute
to Astor Piazzolla, the octet being joined by a string bass in Last
Round – Movido, urgente and Muertes del Angel, the whole work
described by Golijov as “an idealized bandoneón.”
What we're listening to this month:
The Thirteenth Child
Poul Ruders
On a moment-by-moment basis,
this is one of the most enjoyable
new operas of the past two
decades."
- Opera News, Critics Choice
Cooperstown
Sasha Matson
"Cooperstown" is scored for a
cast of five, and a jazz quintet. The
Othello story is embedded in MLB.
Featuring Baritone Rod Gilfry. An
audiophile recording.
Jacques Hétu
Musique pour vents
Pentaèdre
Commemorating the 10th
anniversary of the death of
Jacques Hétu, Pentaèdre presents
a recording devoted to works
by this renowned Canadian
composer.
Chamber Symphonies Nos. 1&2
Jaap Nico Hamburger
In honour of Remembrance Day &
the 75th Anniversary of liberation
of the Netherlands, Hamburger
confronts serious themes with a
sense of hope and optimism.
32 | March and April 2021 thewholenote.com