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Sydney Grew
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« on: 11:52:51, 23-09-2008 » |
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There does not seem so far to be a thread devoted to string quartets, yet it is a combination for which some of the greatest composers have written their greatest music. The genre seems to have come into being quite spontaneously around 1770 without any immediate precursors. And it has thriven ever since!
So we invite members to write here about any string quartets they like, and about any string quartets they dislike (but not to stray from the subject of string quartets or else we shall have the moderators in). The audition of their string quartets are often a good way in to unfamiliar and obscure composers we find, especially since they tend to come in sets. For example we recently acquired a recording of B. Chaiceffsci's six quartets, and look forward to hearing them (well we did until we found out who his teacher was, but we will still give them a hearing quite soon). And then there are so many Scandinavian quartets - all the serious men have sooner or later turned to this form. Even Schoenberg's four are a) among his most approachable works, and b) among his most successful and significant creations.
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autoharp
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« Reply #1 on: 12:52:20, 23-09-2008 » |
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JimD
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Posts: 49
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« Reply #2 on: 13:12:12, 23-09-2008 » |
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Expressions such as 'the ultimate in serious music " are so vulgar, are not they?
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #3 on: 13:20:14, 23-09-2008 » |
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I don't know as much about quartets as string players would. However, I like to start the thread going.
I of course know Beethoven quartets and I do know his last quartets.
What I don't know is contemporary quartets. I don't know if composers are still writing for ensembles like that.
What composers are writing for this combination. Or do they experiment with different quartets (for example mix instruments quartets).
Of course there are quartets with piano, but we are not including them here.
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rauschwerk
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« Reply #4 on: 18:04:42, 23-09-2008 » |
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The genre seems to have come into being quite spontaneously around 1770 without any immediate precursors.
The genre came into being at the hands of Joseph Haydn, who first perfected it with his Op 20 (1772) after much diligent labour. We know, of course, that you consider Haydn a fourth-rater who could not possibly have achieved this feat. But achieve it he did, and on his own |
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rauschwerk
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« Reply #5 on: 18:10:47, 23-09-2008 » |
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For example we recently acquired a recording of B. Chaiceffsci's six quartets...
I Googled on 'Chaiceffski" and the only hits I got (2) were posts of yours, Mr Grew. So are we to assume that this composer is a figment of your imagination? |
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Turfan Fragment
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« Reply #6 on: 18:14:52, 23-09-2008 » |
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The genre came into being at the hands of Joseph Haydn, who first perfected it with his Op 20 (1772) after much diligent labour. We know, of course, that you consider Haydn a fourth-rater who could not possibly have achieved this feat. But achieve it he did, and on his own
Yes, and Athena simply leapt out of the head of Zeus. |
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rauschwerk
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« Reply #7 on: 18:16:05, 23-09-2008 » |
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Seriously though, I have made it my business to get to know the Haydn quartets from Op 20 onwards as well as I know the late quartets of Beethoven. Sadly, the only detailed treatise I have found so far is a book on Op 50 in the Cambridge Music Guides series. Does anyone know where I might get hold of the Doblinger study scores which incorporate the discoveries from the recently discovered autographs of No 3-6?
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pim_derks
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« Reply #8 on: 18:19:57, 23-09-2008 » |
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For example we recently acquired a recording of B. Chaiceffsci's six quartets...
I Googled on 'Chaiceffski" and the only hits I got (2) were posts of yours, Mr Grew. So are we to assume that this composer is a figment of your imagination? Not unlikely, dear Mr rauschwerk.  If Mr Grew can fantasize about his own string quartets and his youthful age (17 was it not?), he can also fantasize about this "Chaiceffski" chap, don't you think so?  By the way: Haydn is my favourite composer! |
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"People hate anything well made. It gives them a guilty conscience." John Betjeman
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time_is_now
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« Reply #9 on: 18:22:09, 23-09-2008 » |
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Sadly, the only detailed treatise I have found so far is a book on Op 50 in the Cambridge Music Guides series. 'Sadly'? It may be the only one, but that wonderful little book is by my former teacher Dean Sutcliffe, who IMHO is far and away the most interesting scholar currently writing on 18th-century music (his big study of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas comes highly recommended, by me at least!). Send me a private message if you want me to ask him about the Doblinger scores. I don't know anything about them myself but I'm sure he'd be happy to answer your question. |
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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Turfan Fragment
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« Reply #10 on: 18:22:45, 23-09-2008 » |
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My comment was serious. I too have made a point of getting to know Haydn's quartets; I think they're fantastic. And that's putting it mildly.
But I do think it's misleading to say he 'achieved it on his own.' The idea of adding a viola to the two violins and bass configuration popular in the dance halls of the day seems something less than unprecedented.
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rauschwerk
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« Reply #11 on: 18:24:40, 23-09-2008 » |
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The idea of adding a viola to the two violins and bass configuration popular in the dance halls of the day seems something less than unprecedented.
Fair comment. I was really referring to the genre that Haydn so powerfully developed using a pre-existing ensemble. |
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rauschwerk
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« Reply #12 on: 18:27:31, 23-09-2008 » |
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Sadly, the only detailed treatise I have found so far is a book on Op 50 in the Cambridge Music Guides series. 'Sadly'? It may be the only one, but that wonderful little book is by my former teacher Dean Sutcliffe, who IMHO is far and away the most interesting scholar currently writing on 18th-century music (his big study of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas comes highly recommended, by me at least!). Send me a private message if you want me to ask him about the Doblinger scores. I don't know anything about them myself but I'm sure he'd be happy to answer your question. Many thanks! I shall take you up on that. I wish I had more books of the quality of Mr Sutcliffe's - hence my sadness. |
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richard barrett
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« Reply #13 on: 18:34:38, 23-09-2008 » |
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Aside from the "divertimenti" of Haydn's early collections (starting with op.1 in 1757) and of many other mid-century composers from south Germany and Austria, Alessandro Scarlatti had written "Sonate a quattro per due violini, violetta e violoncello senza cembalo" as early as 1715.
Since the foundation of the Kronos Quartet in 1973 and the Arditti Quartet in 1974 I would imagine more new string quartets have been written than during any other thirty-year period since the 18th century. The Arditti Quartet's repertoire contains several hundred pieces, most of which they premiered. So yes, composers are still writing string quartets, including Martle, myself and (though corroborative evidence is somewhat thin on the ground) Sydney Grew.
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Bryn
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« Reply #14 on: 18:40:19, 23-09-2008 » |
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We all know the Grewsome nature of Russian transliteration used on these and other boards. I think the string quartet recording in question is probably this one :  |
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« Last Edit: 18:43:05, 23-09-2008 by Bryn »
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