David Matthews: Complete String Quartets, Volume Two
The American critic Robert Reilly described the music on Volume One of this cycle of the complete string quartets of David Matthews (b. 1943) as 'some of the most concentrated, penetrating writing for this medium in the past 30 years or more. It is musical thinking of the highest order and quartet writing in the great tradition of Beethoven, Bartok, Britten, and Tippett’. This second CD in the series presents the Fifth Quartet (1984) and the most recent, Quartet No. 12 (2009–10).
Kreutzer Quartet, string quartet
Peter Sheppard Skærved, violin
Mihailo Trandafilovski, violin
Morgan Goff, viola
Neil Heyde, cello
Listen To This Recording:
-
String Quartet No. 5, Op. 36 (1984)
- I. Lento, cantando –
- II. Vivace, energico –
- III. Largo sostenuto
- I. Prelude and Fugue
- II. Tango
- Cadenza I –
- III. Menuetto Scherzando –
- Cadenza II –
- IV. Serenade –
- Cadenza III –
- V. Canto Mesto
- VI. Menuetto Grazioso –
- VII. Finale
String Quartet No. 12, Op. 114 (2009-10)
You Might Also Like
3 reviews for David Matthews: Complete String Quartets, Volume Two
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Richard Whitehouse :
“… the Kreutzer Quartet gives its collective all in accounts of manifest commitment and burning conviction. The sound is a touch raw in the Fifth Quartet but with an ideal balance and perspective in the Twelfth, while the composer supplies typically insightful notes. The remainder of this series could not be more keenly awaited.” —Richard Whitehouse, International Record Review
westbrookproductions :
“If David Matthews Fifth Quartet is a compact masterwork with its three joined movements then the Twelfth achieves similar mastery but on a vast canvas full of concentration, power and compassion. This is music of a fully rounded man and musician who has something he wants to say about life. …The Kreutzer Quartet are the dedicatees of these quartets and have worked for some time with Matthews and his music. If they can’t achieve the composer’s intentions who can?” MusicWeb International
Michael Cayley :
For anyone interested in chamber music, these two string quartets should be compulsory listening. They are wonderful works, eloquent, varied, and superbly performed. Thoroughly recommended.