Favorite Classical String Quartets
When I started listening to Classical Music as a teenager over 50 years ago I quickly became seduced by the sounds of a string quartet. My school library had a Seraphim 3LP set of Beethoven Middle Period Quartets with the Hungarian SQ (this was in stereo; they had recorded them in mono as well). Op. 59/1, the first of the Razumovsky Quartets, was my seductress: those long soulful cello lines, with the viola weaving in and out, the violins then sweetly taking over the main themes, and then all the instruments trading places-I was hooked.
59/3 has a second movement dominated by the cellist who sounds like a jazz walking bass, and that furious fugal finale. The Harp Quartet in that with its flying pizzicatos was another revelation.
Beethoven’s late quartets are another thing entirely, and took a few generations for nineteenth century listeners to absorb. Mozart and Haydn invented the genre and a lot of their best music is in their quartets.
The aforementioned Classical Period composers are generally thought to have represented the apex of the genre, but I have always been fascinated by Dvorak, Borodin, and Shostakovich, all of whom seemed to luxuriate in the special sonic world of the string quartet.
Other favorites?
T
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Please be patient with me. I am a jazz person. Beethoven's Late Quartets are quite beyond me. Sort of like trying to comprehend late Coltrane. Incomprehensible. I am more of a pre-Classical kind of guy. Bach, J.S. that is, makes sense to me. So who did he listen to? Vivaldi, yes that is good music. I Musici did the Four Seasons a couple of times. Wonderful. Baroque and Early Music. That is all good for me. |
Well thanks for posting Bill but you actually haven’t discussed String Quartets. I suspect that you haven’t had much exposure to them. Let me recommend a few:
Beethoven Middle Quartets, particularly Op.59/1 and 3 mentioned in my OP. Dvorak”American Quartet” Borodin String Quartet #2 Samuel Barber String Quartet-most of this has the music “Adagio For Strings” that Oliver Stone used so effectively in the movie Platoon
The quartets (1 each) of Debussy and Ravel. These will expand your harmonic palette. If you like Bill Evan’s you will love these
Shostakovich- Quartets #8 and 11.
The Quartet Medium was developed during the classical period, so there isn’t any Baroque Music actually composed for it, but there are arrangements of earlier music. These violinist Dimitri Sitkovitsky arranged JS Bach Goldberg Variations for SQ, and also Bach’s Art of Fugue and Musical Offerings have been arranged for SQ |
Probably better to start with Haydn String Quartets for @billstevenson this album is excellent in my opinion https://youtu.be/akMIGQrhzU8?is=wiQl3HQTrKnx_Sjp
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@mahler123 I feel the same way you do, the small group format really seems to let the work of the musicians and the composer shine. I also like it because I realized one day that it represents music I could actually have in my living room as opposed to a symphony and because of that it just seems all the more convincing to me as an audiophile. But surely you must also enjoy trios, duets, and quintets? I do. Haydn is my go to comfort music, the world he creates with his music is full of reason, peace, and order. A pretty good antidote for what we face day-to-day. |
@mahler123 thanks for your suggestions. I most likely have all or most of these and will give them a listen. I have the complete works of pretty much all of the composers you mention, often more than one set of performers. So for example I have the complete Beethoven on DGG, but also the complete Bernstein, the complete Ormandy, the complete...well you get the idea. I have thousands of records and cds. I listen to all of it, comprehension...like I said pre-classical yes. So I am doing ok with Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Handel. But Beethoven...early ok, middle I struggle, late I am lost. By the time we get to the Romantic period, Shubert, Shuman and Brahms and beyond, I am out of my depth. You mention Dvorak, I have his complete works. Same with Ravel. They are completely beyond me. Hopeless. Like I am from Mars. I can understand Stravinsky, particularly the percussiveness of it. It is almost primitive. |
The Beethoven Razumovski and late quartets are among my favorites. I also like Haydn and Schubert quartets as well as other Schubert chamber works, particularly his String Quintet (D. 956) and his Piano Quintet. There are many other composers whose chamber works are, to me, indispensable, like Shostakovich’s string quartets and his incredible piano trio no. 2. I am also a big fan of the quartets of several British composers like Britten, Vaughn Williams, Tippett, and Alwyn. A BIG surprise, given how unknown they remain, are the quartets of Villa Lobos. I will save for later some recommendations for more modern compositions. |
of course I listen to all genresharmo of chamber music, trios, duos, quintets, whatever. However all chamber music in one thread I thought to be excessively ambitious I love the Haydn Quartets, as they are brimming with invention and humor. However I like the way that composers that followed in his wake expanded sonority and particularly gave the cello and viola more to do harmonically |
i don’t want to criticize your purchasing habits, but based on a few posts here it sounds like you are concentrating on being a completist collector, and perhaps not always appreciating what you have collected. I appreciate that you find anything after the early classical period challenging. However you claim to have a great deal of Dvorak. Just do yourself a favor and give a listen to his American Quartet. If you find that music hard, challenging, whatever then I guess we are so far apart aesthetically as to lack a basis for real dialogue. I’m not being judgmental, just hoping that you will have an open mind and appreciate something beautiful. |
@mahler123 I am 78 years old. Music has been a big part of my life, well my whole life. I played professionally as a young man. All kinds of music, even classical. My last paying gig was in a Scottish Pipe and Drum Band. But always jazz was my first love. If I have a large music collection it is because it has accumulated over a lot of years. It is not by design so much as out of curiosity. Dvorak reminds me of the folk music that was popular in the 1960s. There is nothing there for me, it simply does not move me. I am not saying it is bad. Clearly his music speaks to others, I just don't get it. Bob Dylan, same thing. I listen and the music either speaks to me or it doesn't. You are right that I lack appreciation, but the only way to acquire it is to listen. So I listen. I keep going back and listening again. And again. |
Off topic, i suppose, but i would love to know what @billstevenson thinks of this duo guitar version of Goldberg Variations. https://tidal.com/album/445281988 I am besotted. |
I can find string trios for the Goldberg Variations with his arrangement but not anything for quartet. did you mean trios? Or can you provide a link for SQ recordings? |
This Tacet recording, for example, i think is very nice: https://tidal.com/album/282879318 |
I too love string quartets. My tastes skew modern so here are some favorites:
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yes the Crawford Seeger work is wonderful. I actually encountered it about 50 years ago on a Nonesuch LP, I think paired with the Barber.
The Kronos discs are interesting ways to push the traditional boundaries of the string quartet. I liked some of them and was put off by a few others.
Beethoven’s late string quartets are wonderful. I particularly love the Op.131 which still sounds modernist today.
Bartok’s corpus fascinate me. I still haven’t come to terms with all of them. The Shostakovich Quartets are in my opinion his finest music, and I say this as a collector of multiple symphony cycles by him |
I like Ruth Crawford Seeger's Quartet too, as well as the others you listed. The John Zorn collection has some really interesting works and some I don't like quite as much. Still, it is a very worthwhile set. Some other modern works worth mentioning: Elizabeth Maconchy- 13 String Quartets (No.3 is short and worth sampling) Katia Saariaho: 2 quartets by a living composer Glass-String Quartet No. 3 Ligeti: String Quartets Franghiz-Ali Zadah-Mugam Sayagi (a Kronos Quartet recording) Luigi Nono: Fragmente-Stille Reich: Different Trains (primarily a string quartet with looping, siren horn effects, recorded speech, etc.) |
@billstevenson out of curiosity I’d like to hear what you make of John Coltrane’s “my favorite things“. It might help me understand the apparent contradiction of your enjoyment of early classical but non-enjoyment of folk. I enjoy a lot of jazz but I’ve never been able to see the greatness of that phase of Coltrane’s career. On the other hand folk and early music appeal to me quite a bit usually. |
@mahler123 i can’t find any via TIDAL, Qobuz or even Google and Gemini. This is the only SQ Goldberg i can find: arranged and performed by the Catalyst Quartet. "Bach / Gould Project" album by "Catalyst Quartet" on JPLAY app. Open it on JPLAY: com.jplay.jplay://qobuz/album/yanmxuto8ybjb if you have a moment and can post a discogs or streaming link, i would appreciate it. I’d love to hear it. |
@mahler123 reading your post made me realize I have not listened to the Razumovsky quartets in about 20 years! These works were a favorite of my late wife but I think that after her death, perhaps I avoided things with great emotional attachment for her, to avoid a breakdown. Also I have not listened to the Dvorak quartets in many years, I have the Prager DG set LPs. I counted up, I have a dozen or so recordings of the Beethoven quartets between LP, CD and flac. Not all are complete. The Vegh LPs are played most often. The Shostakovich quartets are an interesting case, I have the Fitzwilliam, French, LP set, and listen to the Borodin's performances (streaming). I think back to a discussion with a coworker who was a Jazz fanatic who maintained that classical players were not really musicians because they "just played the notes" - the two interpretations of the Shostakovich could scarcely be more different. I realize, I cannot expand your list, I get drawn back to the late quartets, and it seems that at least one a week I have to listen to the Heiliger Dankgesang - for me the most emotionally affecting piece in all of music. Now, if someone could explain the Große Fuge - does anyone have a "must listen" recording of that? My mind gets lost!
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you are correct. Per AI there are relatively few recordings-and then they couldn’t site any-of the Sitkovitsky Quartet arrangement. After checking the one that I have in my collection is the Catalyst Quartet. I have heard the Emerson Quartet, in concert, play the aria and one of the variations, as an encore. There were definitely 4 people playing, but apparently they haven’t recorded it. tbh I have very little interest in the Goldbergs as a SQ. Now the recent 2 guitar recording is another story… |
@mahler123 thank you. I will stop hunting! |
J.S. Bach was born into a musical family, including his father and two uncle’s; his Grandfather, Great Grandfather and Great-Uncles - all professionals. J.S. also had several sons who were professional musicians. Funny - after a time, to be an organist in that part of Germany was to be known as ‘a Bach’. Organ was THE instrument in the early part of Bach's life (often scored with vocals). Being a great composer/keyboardist for the church or royalty was, arguably, the best way for a musician to make a good living at that time. It is a well-known story that "Johann Sebastian Bach walked more than 200 miles to listen to the great organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck (Germany)." Buxtehude was, primarily, the organist at St. Mary’s church. Outside of Germany - Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Albinoni, and Couperin are also prolific musicians whose music was well known to J.S. Most music was shared as written works, but improvisation was part of daily life was well... I hope this helps... A deeper dive awaits you!
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@retiredaudioguy
The Große Fuge takes a little getting used to and is quite complex. Personally, I think is a masterpiece. It was originally supposed to be the final movement to the 13th string quartet, but apparently with some advice, Beethoven decided that it was best to stand alone. The Heilger Dankesang at the close of the 15th (Op 132) quartet is one of the most moving and beautiful pieces in the entire repertoire. Beethoven wrote it to thank God after recovery from a serious intestinal illness. His genius is so profound - the composer of the 9th symphony wrote this quiet song on thanks. I agree with all the suggestions in this thread, although I still have to hear a few. Allow me to add another name -- Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a contemporary of Shostakovich who championed his music. You will not similarities and differences in their compositions. Among them all, for me Beethoven and Shostakovich from the early 19th century to mid 20th century they form bookends of great composition. We are the beneficiaries.
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@bruce19 I am probably the last guy to ask about John Coltrane. He is not my fav all the way around, although I prefer his early recording best. The things he did on Prestige and with Miles on Columbia and with Canonball are all musical. I really like old jazz more, so when it comes to saxophones I like Young and Hawkins and really all the guys who played in the early bands for Ellington, Henderson, Basie etc.. I liked all the swing small group sessions that were recorded by labels like Commodore, Black & White, Keynote etc.. Then when BeBop came in there was Parker of course and a lot of followers. I got real interested in the West Coast Jazz thing too. Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Sonny Stitt. Then along came Brubeck and for a long time I listened to Paul Desmond. Remember the Bossa Nova craze? Stan Getz sold more records than any other sax player ever, if I'm not mistaken. You'll notice in this quick run down that somehow Coltrane and Rollins aren't showing up. We all like what we like. I am a simple guy. Maybe those guys are just too sophisticated for me. |
It is reassuring not to be the only A-Gonner who appreciates and enjoys modern and contemporary composed music. |
Thanks to all for many good suggestions which I have added to my "Listen later" list. Here's a question. Does listening to this type of music tend to drive audiophiles to similarities in choice of equipment? For my part I have gone towards triode tubes and high efficiency speakers, including open baffle and single full range. I also enjoy Pass Firstwatt amps which I have come to think of as solid state tube amps. |
Both of you are knowledgeable and I thank you for the suggestions including several composers I am unfamiliar with. Listening to the sparse and contemplative Fragmente-Stille composed by Luigi Nono right now. Thanks!