An Intelligent Conversation: String Quartets

November 2, 2020, 7:00 pm

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Goethe once wrote, “When I listen to a string quartet, it makes me feel as if I am eavesdropping on a conversation between four intelligent people.” This week we are going to listen to string quartets composed over a period of about two and a half centuries. From Joseph Haydn, the father of the string quartet, all the way to Aaron Jay Kernis, a Pulitzer prize-winning present-day composer.

Playlist

Episode 1

Mozart, WA: Quartet for Strings No. 19 in C major, Dissonance,
II. Andante cantabile (excerpt)

Juilliard Quartet
The Juilliard Quartet plays Mozart
Sony 62707
00:50

Haydn, Joseph: Quartet for Strings in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2
Angeles String Quartet
“Complete” String Quartets
Phi 464650
16:43

Haydn, Joseph: Quartet for Strings in D major, Op. 64 No. 5, Lark, I
Hagen Quartet
Three String Quartets
DG 423622 2
5:45

Haydn, Joseph: Quartet for Strings in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2
Angeles String Quartet
“Complete” String Quartets
Phi 464650
00:10

Mozart, WA: Quartet for Strings No. 19 in C major, Dissonance, I
Juilliard Quartet
The Juilliard Quartet plays Mozart
Sony 62707
10:50

Beethoven, Ludwig van: Quartet for Strings No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130, Cavatina
Emerson Quartet
The String Quartets
DG 447075
7:09

Beethoven, Ludwig van: Quartet for Strings Op. 59 No. 3, Razumovsky, IV
Amadeus Quartet
String Quartets Op.59 No.3 & Op.74
London 421364
5:56

Mozart, WA: Quartet for Strings No. 19 in C major, Dissonance, III
Juilliard Quartet
The Juilliard Quartet plays Mozart
Sony 62707
01:20

 

Episode 2

Schubert, Franz: Quartet for Strings, No. 15 in G major, D 887, I
Kremer, violin; Phillips, violin; Kashkashian, viola; Ma, violoncello
Schubert: Quartet No 15
CBS 42134
23:19

Schubert, Franz: Quartet for Strings, No. 14, D. 810,
Death and the Maiden, scherzo + II (excerpt)

Artis Quartet
Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810
“Death and the Maiden” & No. 12 in C Minor, D. 703 “Quartettsatz”
Sony 52582
3:31, 1:04

Mendelssohn, Felix: Quartet for Strings, Op. 44, No. 2, I & II
Talich Quartet
Les 3 Quatuors Op. 44
Calliope 9302
10:31

Schumann, Robert: Quartet for Strings, Op. 41 No. I
Eroica Quartet
Schumann: String Quartets, Op 41
HM 907270
7:22

Schumann, Robert: Quartet for Strings Op. 41 No. 1, III. Scherzo
Lark Quartet
Schumann Quartets Op. 41, Nos. 1 & 3
Arab 6696
3:38

Schubert, Franz: Quartet for Strings, No. 14, D. 810, Death and the Maiden, II (excerpt)
Artis Quartet
Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810
“Death and the Maiden” & No. 12 in C Minor, D. 703 “Quartettsatz”
Sony 52582
1:04

Episode 3

Brahms, Johannes: Quartet for Strings in A Minor, Op. 51 No. 2, I 7 II
Alban Berg Quartet
Brahms: String Quartets
EMI 54829
18:14

Smetana, Bedrich: Quartet for Strings in E Minor, No. 1, I
Guarneri Quartet
String Quartets Streichquartette: ‘From My Life’ “American”
Phi 420 803
6:46

Dvorák, Antonin: Quartet for Strings in E-Flat major, Op. 51, I & II
Alban Berg Quartet
Dvorák: String Quartets Op 51 & 105
EMI 57013
17:37

Borodin, Alexander: Quartet for Strings in D major, No. 2, II
St. Petersburg String Quartet
Borodin: The Two String Quartets
Sony 64097
4:09

Tchaikovsky, Peter: Quartet for Strings No. 2, finale (excerpt)
Borodin String Quartet
Tchaikovsky: String Quartets
EMI 49775
1:23

Episode 4

Grieg, Edvard: Quartet for Strings in G Minor, Op. 27, (excerpt)
Chilingirian String Quartet
String Quartets
Hyp 67117
00:42

Verdi, Giuseppe: Quartet for Strings in E Minor, I & III
Juilliard String Quartet
Verdi, Sibelius: String Quartets
Sony 48193
11:15

Grieg, Edvard: Quartet for Strings in G Minor, Op. 27, excerpts
Chilingirian String Quartet
String Quartets
Hyp 67117
00:12

Grieg, Edvard: Quartet for Strings in G Minor, Op. 27, excerpts
Chilingirian String Quartet
String Quartets
Hyp 67117
00:15

Grieg, Edvard: Quartet for Strings in G Minor, Op. 27, excerpts
Chilingirian String Quartet
String Quartets
Hyp 67117
00:12

Grieg, Edvard: Quartet for Strings in G Minor, Op. 27, excerpts
Chilingirian String Quartet
String Quartets
Hyp 67117
6:02

Debussy, Claude: Quartet for Strings in G Minor, Op. 10, I
Quartet Ysaye
String Quartets
Lon 430 434
6:26

Sibelius, Jean: Quartet for Strings in D Minor, Op. 56, Voces intimae, III

Melos Quartet
Sibelius/Verdi: String Quartets
HM 901671
9:46

Schoenberg, Arnold: Quartet for Strings No. 2 Op. 10, I
Schoenberg String Quartet
Schoenberg / Schoenberg Quartet
Chan 9939
6:41

Ives, Charles: Quartet for Strings No. 2, II
Emerson String Quartet
Samuel Barber
String Quartet Op. 11
Charles Ives
String Quartets Nos. 1 + 2
DG 435864
4:28

 

Episode 5

Barber, Samuel: String Quartet, Op. 11, III (excerpts)
Emerson String Quartet
Ives and Barber String Quartets
DG 435864
0:45

Ravel, Maurice: Quartet for Strings in F major, I
Britten Quartet
Ravel: String Quartet; Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge
EMI 54346
8:39

Hindemith, Paul: Quartet for Strings in F Minor No. 1, Op. 10, I
Juilliard String Quartet
Hindemith: String Quartets Nos. 1, 4, 7
Wergo 6622
9:54

Bartók, Bela: Quartet for Strings No. 5, Sz. 102, III
Takács Quartet
Bartók: The 6 String Quartets
Lon 455297
4:54

Barber, Samuel: String Quartet, Op. 11, II
Emerson String Quartet
Ives and Barber String Quartets
DG 435864
6:49

Britten, Benjamin: Quartet for Strings in D major, op. 25, I (excerpt)
Endellion String Quartet
The Complete Music for String Quartet Volume 2
EMI 47695
:15

Britten, Benjamin: Quartet for Strings in D Major, op. 25, IV
Endellion String Quartet
The Complete Music for String Quartet Volume 2
EMI 47695
3:47

Kernis, Aaron Jay: Quartet for Strings, No. 2, Musica celestis, II
Lark Quartet
The Lark Quartet plays Aaron Jay Kernis
Arab 6727
11:47

Barber, Samuel: String Quartet, Op. 11, II, III (excerpts)
Emerson String Quartet
Ives and Barber String Quartets
DG 435864
0:45

Barber, Samuel: String Quartet, Op. 11, II, III (excerpts)
Emerson String Quartet
Ives and Barber String Quartets
DG 435864
1:45