Dante Quartet

Kodály: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2; Intermezzo & Gavotte

I. Andante poco rubato – Allegro

II. Lento assai, tranquillo

III. Presto

IV. Allegro

Intermezzo for String Trio

Gavotte for 3 Violins and Cello

I. Allegro

II. Andante, quasi recit.

III. Allegro giocoso

Charles Villiers Stanford

SOMM Recordings’ historic complete survey of Charles Villiers Stanford’s String Quartets by the Dante Quartet reaches its end with a third volume focusing on Nos. 1 and 2, and the first recording of No. 6. Already acclaimed as a composer of choral music, Stanford came relatively late to the string quartet form, composing his first two at the age of 39 in 1891. Six more followed over the next three decades, including the Op. 122 String Quartet, No. 6 in 1910.  This final volume features the early String Quartets, Opp. 44 (No. 1) and 45 (No. 2) which share a concern for meticulous use of individual instrument voices and a leaning towards lyricism. Allusions to Beethoven and Mozart are contained within Stanford’s own beautifully crafted music. Heard here in its premiere recording, the Sixth String Quartet is a work of rich contrasts, restless energy and some of Stanford’s most expressive writing for the medium. Volume I (SOMMCD 0160) was admired as “an excellent disc in every respect” (MusicWeb International), applauded as “most enterprising and thoroughly likeable” (Classical Ear) and acclaimed “a really worthwhile release” (Gramophone). Volume II (SOMMCD 0185) was described as “essential listening... SOMM and the Dantes have broken important new ground with impressive commitment” by Gramophone and by Limelight as being “played with great élan and sensitivity by the excellent Dante Quartet”.

Stanford: String Quartets, Vol. 3

Herbert Howells’ style, immediately recognizable for its long melodic lines, rhapsodic nature and rich harmonies, defined the sound of English cathedral music in the 20th century. His studies in London imbued his works with sophistication and a French influence, which were intertwined with a nostalgic ‘heartache’ for the ‘real Gloucestershire,’ as can be heard in String Quartet No. 3. The charming little character stories in ‘Lady Audrey’s Suite’ tell of countryside and church, while the Piano Quartet in A minor is dedicated “To the Hill at Chosen and Ivor Gurney who knows it,” portraying a favorite local vantage point at different seasons as well as poignantly remembering a lost friendship.

Howells: Chamber Music

The second volume in Somm Recordings’ complete survey of Charles Villiers Stanford’s eight String Quartets sees the Dante Quartet return with first recordings of the Third, Fourth and Seventh Quartets. Stanford came late to the string quartet form, composing his first two in 1891. His Third Quartet followed five years later. Dedicated to “my friends the Joachim Quartet,” it moves from stern agitation and lyrical poise to introspective intensity before ending with a ferocious, dance-like finale. As Stanford authority Jeremy Dibble notes: “The idiom of the string quartet was always a serious intellectual challenge for Stanford and this example is no exception in its demonstration of structural subtlety, thematic imagination and brilliant ensemble writing.” Completed a decade later, the Fourth Quartet is a work of fierce technical challenges – “brimfull with invention” as Dibble pithily observes – its playful Scherzo a dazzling example of Stanford’s love of continuing variation, the melancholic slow movement and virtuoso finale drawing deep from the Dublin-born composer’s richly emotional Irish heritage. The Seventh Quartet is one of Stanford’s most varied and vital exercises in the form. Viola and cello are pitched against each other in the stern, contrapuntal dialogue of its first movement with a tour de force Scherzo at its heart and a finale that dances delightfully in irregular phrase lengths to end in an energetic flourish. Issued in late 2016, Volume One in the series was admired as “an excellent album in every respect” (MusicWeb International), applauded as “most enterprising and thoroughly likeable” (Classical Ear) and acclaimed “a really worthwhile release” (Gramophone).

Kodály: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2; Intermezzo & Gavotte

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