Really good to hear you include Martinus 4tets. I came to them via his symphonies,concertos,and single movt pieces. Its all so Martinu!!! The qtets couldnt have been written by anyone else. And,even b4 WW2 started,he was already blacklisted by the nazis. Listen to his Revue de. Cuisine a ballet for kitchen utensils....and ull get a horrible sense of what the Nazis in France wanted to stamp on. Choose Martinu and choose Life.
Thank you so much, Dave. Your comments have often steered me in new, rewarding directions, and I'm so thankful for this latest one! You're so right about Martinu's quartets! They are true gems. I'm so glad that your video came up in my UA-cam recommendations.
I am SO glad you started by mentioning Boccherini. It breaks my heart that he attracts so many dry-as-dust exercises in period purity. There's so much life in his works; they call out for the beauty and power of modern instruments (or at least lively performances that make the most of the replicas used in period bands). I think his quintets have fared a little better. Solid list that I'm sure to share. Never got to thank you (last year?) for pointing out something just off the "essential" path: Glazunov's quartets. I never knew. Now I do.
Glad you mentioned Nielsen, quite baffled why his SQs are not properly regarded as the strong works they are. I'm especially fond of the No. 3 in E-flat major, a clear masterpiece. The slow movement is particularly wonderful.
Shostakovich certainly ! Britten s 3 Quarters are much under appreciated I feel. Beethoven via the Lindsays remains topnotch and ..Bartok yes, Haydn and Mozart yes obvs ,but will investigate Martinu and Nielsen tho. Many thks. 🏆
So true what you said about the quartet being on equal footing with the orchestra in musical expression. I don't think I'm alone in having had initial difficulty adjusting to the lean and often astringent sound world of the string quartet. But it certainly pays back one's effort a thousand fold. By the way, I found your words about grandness in Mozart illuminating. I didn't realize I knew that until you said it!
Of Schubert's late clump of string quartets, the "Rosamunde" and "Death and the Maiden" are the most talked about. However, unlike Beethoven, there seems to be little awareness here that Schubert, in his last G-major (D. 887) string quartet, sought to raise the pedestal even higher. I think this (perhaps due to the influence of some of Beethoven's late quartets) was definitely the case, but due to its lack of a nickname or the difficulty of performing the music, this has gone unnoticed. Well, at least that was how I viewed it, until I came across a performance by the Esme Quartet from Sudtirol (you can find it on UA-cam). Check it out!
The Quartetto Italiano's version of the 15th was imprinted on me, the Alban Berg version is not bad too, and a new favorite of mine is by the Diogenes quartet in Brilliant classics (which is a great value box set if you choose to just get them all!)
Hi Dave, I'm really enjoying the Mendelssohn quartets (Talich recordings), especially the first three. I would be really grateful for a beginners list of essential quiet-ish/ low dynamic range pieces, or a 'If you like Stravinsky's Orpheus, then you'll love...'
Thanks for this video. I'm not a beginner, but I still enjoyed the overview and learned a few things; I was unaware of Martinu's quartets. I appreciate your opening remarks about Boccherini which kind of made the video a 10 + 1 list. He is one of my favorites.
Many thanks, David, for a great talk about string quartets. I don'' think I'll ever understand the Bartók 3rd, no matter how hard I try - and I have a number of different recordings of it!
Again you discuss a composer who is much less known than he should be... Martinu. I bought a cycle of his symphonies because I didn't know them and now I feel the need to follow that with his string quartets. I love string quartets and cannot understand how I know nothing of Martinu's. Thank you so much, Dave, for alerting me to that.
Yet a third strategy for exploring would be to start at the end (to hear the full flower of their creation), then go back to the seeds at the beginning of their careers. With Haydn, it of course is Op. 76 and 77. With Dvorák, it would be the last three quarters (12-14); if you snuck in the glorious Op. 97 quintet with these three I hope Dave wouldn’t quarrel.
Great list - I’ve been waiting for this! Haydn - agree totally Mozart - I wouldn’t damn him with faint praise by saying Haydn knew he could still compete. Mozart’s quartets - even the early ones (like #4) - are to my ears superb. Also - interesting point about the quality of players who would have been available to Mozart and how that explains why he packed so much depth into the quartets.
Agree about Boccherini in all respects. There is a wonderful, award-winning book about his music, Boccherini's Body, by Elizabeth LeGuin (a performing cellist who played with the Philharmonia Baroque and, yes, the daughter of the famous science fiction/fantasy author Ursula LeGuin). LeGuin suggests resistance to his work is based on intellectual resistance to the sheer physicality and beauty of music.
@@DavesClassicalGuide You are well aware of the anti-septic foibles of academic musicology. In my opinion, the book's primary virtue is that it strayed from strict formalism to value texture. Elizabeth is a lovely writer, even if it was not the silver bullet that restores Boccherini to the pantheon of canonic respect.
Mystifies me also. They’re absolutely magnificent, and he wrote a whopping 36 quartets and 34 quintets, of which only a fraction have been recorded. The quintets are often scored for double-bass + cello instead of 2 cellos through which Onslow achieves special sonorities. The piano quintets are also really good. CPO and MDG are the only record labels that have devoted more than ephemeral attention to his chamber music. I don’t think David has talked about the chamber music either (as yet).
I stand corrected: Naxos has also done its fair share. A CD with the cello sonatas and eight of the quintets in four volumes by the Elan Quintet. Only 26 quintets to go!
I have just had an Idea for a Classical Clump video: Ballet Cycles! ( or composers who wrote more than two ballets) What do you think Dave? Thank you and take care!
Hi, Dave. Fantastic list. In fact, I am beginning now with Haydn, and the only complete set of Quartets I found available is one in Brilliant Classics with the Buchberger Quartet. I'd like to ask, are those good interpretations?
The Nielsen quartets are AMAZING and SHOULD be played as much as the other standards on this list!
Really good to hear you include Martinus 4tets.
I came to them via his symphonies,concertos,and single movt pieces.
Its all so Martinu!!!
The qtets couldnt have been written by anyone else.
And,even b4 WW2 started,he was already blacklisted by the nazis.
Listen to his Revue de. Cuisine a ballet for kitchen utensils....and ull get a horrible sense of what the Nazis in France wanted to stamp on.
Choose Martinu and choose Life.
Of the Bartoks I found #4 the most accessible. It has spooky, spiky, and nocturnal ideas.
Thanks! I need that tip, because I haven't gained entry yet (not that I've tried awfully hard.)
5 is really dank
Thank you so much, Dave. Your comments have often steered me in new, rewarding directions, and I'm so thankful for this latest one! You're so right about Martinu's quartets! They are true gems. I'm so glad that your video came up in my UA-cam recommendations.
You are so welcome!
I am SO glad you started by mentioning Boccherini. It breaks my heart that he attracts so many dry-as-dust exercises in period purity. There's so much life in his works; they call out for the beauty and power of modern instruments (or at least lively performances that make the most of the replicas used in period bands). I think his quintets have fared a little better.
Solid list that I'm sure to share. Never got to thank you (last year?) for pointing out something just off the "essential" path: Glazunov's quartets. I never knew. Now I do.
Great!
Glad you mentioned Nielsen, quite baffled why his SQs are not properly regarded as the strong works they are. I'm especially fond of the No. 3 in E-flat major, a clear masterpiece. The slow movement is particularly wonderful.
Shostakovich certainly ! Britten s 3 Quarters are much under appreciated I feel. Beethoven via the Lindsays remains topnotch and ..Bartok yes, Haydn and Mozart yes obvs ,but will investigate Martinu and Nielsen tho. Many thks. 🏆
So true what you said about the quartet being on equal footing with the orchestra in musical expression. I don't think I'm alone in having had initial difficulty adjusting to the lean and often astringent sound world of the string quartet. But it certainly pays back one's effort a thousand fold. By the way, I found your words about grandness in Mozart illuminating. I didn't realize I knew that until you said it!
I love all of this! Great video!
And i am now listening to Glazunov's string quartets. What a clump!
Of Schubert's late clump of string quartets, the "Rosamunde" and "Death and the Maiden" are the most talked about. However, unlike Beethoven, there seems to be little awareness here that Schubert, in his last G-major (D. 887) string quartet, sought to raise the pedestal even higher. I think this (perhaps due to the influence of some of Beethoven's late quartets) was definitely the case, but due to its lack of a nickname or the difficulty of performing the music, this has gone unnoticed. Well, at least that was how I viewed it, until I came across a performance by the Esme Quartet from Sudtirol (you can find it on UA-cam). Check it out!
The Quartetto Italiano's version of the 15th was imprinted on me, the Alban Berg version is not bad too, and a new favorite of mine is by the Diogenes quartet in Brilliant classics (which is a great value box set if you choose to just get them all!)
Hi Dave, I'm really enjoying the Mendelssohn quartets (Talich recordings), especially the first three. I would be really grateful for a beginners list of essential quiet-ish/ low dynamic range pieces, or a 'If you like Stravinsky's Orpheus, then you'll love...'
Thanks for this video. I'm not a beginner, but I still enjoyed the overview and learned a few things; I was unaware of Martinu's quartets. I appreciate your opening remarks about Boccherini which kind of made the video a 10 + 1 list. He is one of my favorites.
Many thanks, David, for a great talk about string quartets. I don'' think I'll ever understand the Bartók 3rd, no matter how hard I try - and I have a number of different recordings of it!
Again you discuss a composer who is much less known than he should be... Martinu. I bought a cycle of his symphonies because I didn't know them and now I feel the need to follow that with his string quartets. I love string quartets and cannot understand how I know nothing of Martinu's. Thank you so much, Dave, for alerting me to that.
My pleasure. Have fun!
I’m still digesting the Beethoven ones. Blew my box off completely especially the late ones. It’s been a Martinu love in & I need to check those out
Thanks for the list! Now I’m prepared to discuss the topic with my friend who is a crazy quartet lady.
To Bartok and Shostakovitch for the 20th century I would add Glass.
17:47 ... destroying them might be his greatest work. 😅 Just kiddin'. Great episode.
Great list Dave - are we going to get a list for Non-Beginners? - I do hope so..
Clump away is worthy of a classicalstoday t shirt
Yet a third strategy for exploring would be to start at the end (to hear the full flower of their creation), then go back to the seeds at the beginning of their careers.
With Haydn, it of course is Op. 76 and 77. With Dvorák, it would be the last three quarters (12-14); if you snuck in the glorious Op. 97 quintet with these three I hope Dave wouldn’t quarrel.
I said that in the video.
My apologies! I *do* listen to all your videos, but I do have my senior moments.
Great list - I’ve been waiting for this!
Haydn - agree totally
Mozart - I wouldn’t damn him with faint praise by saying Haydn knew he could still compete. Mozart’s quartets - even the early ones (like #4) - are to my ears superb.
Also - interesting point about the quality of players who would have been available to Mozart and how that explains why he packed so much depth into the quartets.
Agree about Boccherini in all respects. There is a wonderful, award-winning book about his music, Boccherini's Body, by Elizabeth LeGuin (a performing cellist who played with the Philharmonia Baroque and, yes, the daughter of the famous science fiction/fantasy author Ursula LeGuin). LeGuin suggests resistance to his work is based on intellectual resistance to the sheer physicality and beauty of music.
I thought that was a very silly book, but I was glad Boccherini was getting some attention, however wrong-headed.
@@DavesClassicalGuide You are well aware of the anti-septic foibles of academic musicology. In my opinion, the book's primary virtue is that it strayed from strict formalism to value texture. Elizabeth is a lovely writer, even if it was not the silver bullet that restores Boccherini to the pantheon of canonic respect.
I have to ask, why George onslow is almost never talk when it comes to string quartets and quintets?
Mystifies me also. They’re absolutely magnificent, and he wrote a whopping 36 quartets and 34 quintets, of which only a fraction have been recorded. The quintets are often scored for double-bass + cello instead of 2 cellos through which Onslow achieves special sonorities. The piano quintets are also really good. CPO and MDG are the only record labels that have devoted more than ephemeral attention to his chamber music. I don’t think David has talked about the chamber music either (as yet).
@@marnixfransen
"of which only a fraction have been recorded."
That's probably why.
I stand corrected: Naxos has also done its fair share. A CD with the cello sonatas and eight of the quintets in four volumes by the Elan Quintet. Only 26 quintets to go!
I have just had an Idea for a Classical Clump video: Ballet Cycles! ( or composers who wrote more than two ballets)
What do you think Dave?
Thank you and take care!
Clump Clump Me a Clump Too 🙃 - A Great Series !
Hi, Dave. Fantastic list. In fact, I am beginning now with Haydn, and the only complete set of Quartets I found available is one in Brilliant Classics with the Buchberger Quartet. I'd like to ask, are those good interpretations?
On the whole, yes. A bit rough in spots, but exciting and bold.
@@DavesClassicalGuide thanks so much!!
I was fortunate to discover Haydn’s quartets in my early 20’s. Fifty years later, they are 68 1/2 of my dearest friends.
I lack early ones by Haydn, Mozart & Schubert and the whole Nielsen & Shostakovich.
Please Dave, do a video on the best recordings of Boccherini's music so we can enjoy his music in the best conditions, even if there isn't everything.