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Middle String Quartets

Narratio Quartet

Label: Challenge Classics
Catalogue number: CC 72981
EAN / barcode: 0608917298123
Release date: 31 October 2024
Number of CDs: 2
Type: Album

More info

Beethoven's string quartets were written in an era when chamber music was shifting from the salons of the nobility into the concert hall, and when chamber music ensembles were slowly but surely metamorphosing from being a pursuit for a mix of outstanding amateurs and professionals into a discipline for professionally trained musicians. In that sense the "Rasumowsky" quartets represent a turning point in the string quartet tradition. Count Rasumowsky, one of Beethoven's principal patrons in the first decade of the nineteenth century and the Russian ambassador in Vienna, was also an excellent amateur violinist, playing second violin in the string quartet which he financed and which was led by the renowned Ignaz Schuppanzigh. The three quartets, Opus 59, which were dedicated to him, prompted him to give up his place in the quartet. He provided the members of this quartet with a fixed appointment in 1808, which even included a pension for life. Initially, the three Opus 59 quartets met with some resistance from the Viennese audiences. After the two opus numbers 18 and 59, both consisting of a group of quartets, opus 74 is a single work, generally considered as one of the most readily accessible.

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Tracklist

01 String Quartet in F major, op. 59, No. 1: I. Allegro 10:56
02 String Quartet in F major, op. 59, No. 1: II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 08:51
03 String Quartet in F major, op. 59, No. 1: III. Adagio molto e mesto 13:24
04 String Quartet in F major, op. 59, No. 1: IV. Theme russe - Allegro 06:50
05 String Quartet in F major, op. 14, No. 1: I. Allegro moderato 06:18
06 String Quartet in F major, op. 14, No. 1: II. Allegro 03:11
07 String Quartet in F major, op. 14, No. 1: III. Allegro 03:32
08 String Quartet in E minor, op. 59, No. 2: I. Allegro 09:47
09 String Quartet in E minor, op. 59, No. 2: II. Molto Adagio 12:39
10 String Quartet in E minor, op. 59, No. 2: III. Allegretto 06:39
11 String Quartet in E minor, op. 59, No. 2: IV. Finale - Presto 05:42
12 String Quartet in C major, op. 59, No. 3: I. Andante con moto - Allegro vivace 10:34
13 String Quartet in C major, op. 59, No. 3: II. Andante con moto quasi Allegretto 08:58
14 String Quartet in C major, op. 59, No. 3: III. Menuetto - Grazioso attacca 04:43
15 String Quartet in C major, op. 59, No. 3: IV. Allegro molto 06:20
16 String Quartet in E-flat major, op. 74 "Harp": I. Poco adagio - Allegro 09:16
17 String Quartet in E-flat major, op. 74 "Harp": II. Adagio ma non troppo 09:39
18 String Quartet in E-flat major, op. 74 "Harp": III. Presto 05:06
19 String Quartet in E-flat major, op. 74 "Harp": IV. Allegretto con variazioni 06:44
20 String Quartet in F minor, op. 95 "Serioso": I. Allegro con brio 04:17
21 String Quartet in F minor, op. 95 "Serioso": II. Allegretto ma non troppo 06:57
22 String Quartet in F minor, op. 95 "Serioso": III. Allegro assai vivace ma serioso 04:32
23 String Quartet in F minor, op. 95 "Serioso": IV. Larghetto espressivo - Allegretto agitato - Allegro 05:12

Source: MusicBrainz

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