Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3

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The Eschers offer eloquent, full-blooded playing, with spacious tempos, earthy rhythms and rich, dug-in sound. Nothing is rushed or skittered over - and this is notably rewarding in music where... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2015 More…

Release Date: 28th Aug 2015
Catalogue No: BIS1990
Label: BIS
Length: 71 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13

Work length30:23

$5.50

$9.10

$12.25

Escher String Quartet
Recorded: September 2014
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Sulfolk, England, United Kingdom

I. Adagio

Track length8:07

$1.50

$2.60

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II. Adagio non lento

Track length8:12

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

III. Intermezzo. Allegretto con moto

Track length4:40

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Presto

Track length9:24

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

Excerpt, Mendelssohn: Four pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81

Work length10:11

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Escher String Quartet
Recorded: September 2014
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Sulfolk, England, United Kingdom

No. 1, Tema con variazioni. Andante sostenuto, MWV R 34

Track length5:46

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

No. 2, Scherzo. Allegro leggiero, MWV R 35

Track length4:25

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1

Work length31:13

$5.55

$9.05

$12.25

Escher String Quartet
Recorded: September 2014
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Sulfolk, England, United Kingdom

I. Molto allegro vivace

Track length12:40

$2.05

$3.85

$5.25

II. Menuetto. Un poco allegretto

Track length5:31

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Andante espressivo ma con moto

Track length5:24

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Presto con brio

Track length7:38

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

About
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About

In 1827, when writing his Quartet in A minor, Op.13, the eighteen-year-old Mendelssohn was especially interested in Beethoven’s late quartets – at a time when these works were generally written off as ‘confused fantasies of a deaf musician’. In Mendelssohn's A minor quartet the debt to Beethoven is evident in the important role of polyphonic techniques, and particularly in the focus on cyclical connections between movements. The composer achieves this by using material from his own song, Frage, describing the result in a letter to a friend: ‘You will hear it – with its own notes –in the first and last movements, and in all four movements you will hear its emotions expressed.’ Ten years after theOp. 13 quartet, Mendelssohn composed the three quartets that make up his Op. 44. The D major quartet that closes the present disc was the last of these to be completed, but on publication, Mendelssohn placed it as the first in the set – in a letter to the violinist Ferdinand David, he wrote: 'I am very fond of it... it’s more ardent than the others, and more rewarding for the players...’ Besides the seven complete quartets – of which the first one remained unpublished during the composer's lifetime – Mendelssohn also wrote four individual movements for string quartet. These were gathered together and published posthumously with the opus number 81, and on this second volume of their complete Mendelssohn cycle the Escher Quartet perform two of these pieces, both conceived in August 1847, only a couple of months before the composer’s death. The first volume in the Eschers' series, released in April 2015, has been warmly received by the critics, with the internet site Pizzicato describing it as 'a noteworthy addition to the Mendelssohn discography'.

Reviews

December 2015

The Eschers offer eloquent, full-blooded playing, with spacious tempos, earthy rhythms and rich, dug-in sound. Nothing is rushed or skittered over - and this is notably rewarding in music where an over-precious surface can risk missing the point…the four players offer a beautiful blend of individuality and accord, and BIS's famous SACD sound quality lets them gleam and glow.

October 2015

This young American group respond particularly vividly to the ebullience of the D major Quartet…digging into the upward arpeggio with which it launches with infectious glee, while the first movement's coda is uproariously dispatched. Also impressive is their combination of finely honed interaction and a sense of playfulness.

6th September 2015

The brilliant young Escher String Quartet offer richly nuanced, expressive and dramatic performance.

Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3

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