Zemlinsky: String Quartets, Vol. 2 Escher String Quartet

• 1 I. Allegro con fuoco 12:06
• 2 II. Allegretto - quarter note: etwas schneller als fruher (quarter note - 6/8 prestissimo) - Tempo di allegretto 04:25
• 3 III. Breit und kraftig 08:01
• 4 IV. Vivace e con fuoco 07:23
• 5 I. Sehr masssig (quasi andante) - Heftig und leidenschaftlich - Andante mosso - Etwas rascher - 12:09
• 6 II. Adagio - 08:22
• 7 III. Schnell (die Achtel) - 06:05
• 8 IV. Andante 10:10
• 9 V. Langsam 06:13
• Total Runtime 01:14:54

Info zu Zemlinsky: String Quartets, Vol. 2

By 1896, at the age of twenty-five, Alexander Zemlinsky was one of the rising stars in the Viennese musical firmament. His first opera had been written, he had won a number of awards, and he had earned the support of Johannes Brahms. In July of the same year he began writing his First String Quartet, a work of sweeping lyricism, rich dance patterns, and self-confidence, couched within the bounds of a relatively conventional palette. Seventeen years later he began his Second String Quartet. Kaleidoscopic in effect, mood, and technical demands, and redolent of the music of the new century – led by his brother- in-law Arnold Schoenberg – it was to place Zemlinsky securely in the European avant-garde.

“Alexander Zemlinsky's four quartets seem underrated. They are among the finest composed in Europe in the first half of the 20th century, but are rarely mentioned in the same breath as those by Zemlinsky's contemporaries such as Schoenberg and Berg, Janáček and Bartók. So it is good to see them taken up by such an accomplished young group as the Escher Quartet, who come up with performances of exemplary clarity and intelligence. The Third Quartet was composed in 1924, by which time Zemlinsky had replaced the fevered expressionism of his superb Second Quartet, completed nine years before, with a more objective, almost neoclassical style. Memories of that earlier language occasionally return, but textures are generally leaner, outlines clearer than before. In the six-movement Fourth Quartet, written in 1936 in response to the death of Alban Berg and modelled on his Lyric Suite, the two musical worlds seem to coexist comfortably. Certainly the Eschers make it seem utterly natural.” (Andrew Clements, The Guardian)

Escher String Quartet:
Adam Barnett-Hart, 1st violin
Wu Jie, 2nd violin
Pierre Lapointe, viola
Dane Johansen, cello

Recorded at Port Charlotte United Methodist Church, Florida, USA, from 9th to 12th May, 2012
Engineered and edited by Norbert Kraft
Produced by Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver

The Escher String Quartet
The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. Championed by the Emerson String Quartet, the group was on the BBC New Generation Artists scheme from 2010-2012, giving debuts at both the Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as Artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where last season they presented a critically acclaimed 3-concert series featuring the quartets of Benjamin Britten. In 2013, the Quartet became one of the very few chamber ensembles to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fischer Career Grant.

Within months of its inception in 2005, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet in Residence at each artist’s summer festival: the Young Artists Programme at Canada’s National Arts Centre; and the Perlman Chamber Music Program on Shelter Island, NY. In addition, the quartet has since collaborated with artists including Khatia Buniatishvili, Leon Fleischer, David Finckel, Wu Han, Lynn Harrell, Joseph Kalichstein, and Jason Vieaux, as well as jazz vocalist Kurt Elling.

The Escher Quartet has performed at the Cheltenham and City of London festivals, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, the 92nd Street Y in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and at the Ravinia and Caramoor festivals. Elsewhere, the group has toured China and made its Australian debut at the Perth International Arts Festival. Last season, the Escher Quartet returned to the Wigmore Hall and made debuts in Switzerland at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève and in Austria at the Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt. Highlights in the United States included performances at Northwestern University, the Coleman Chamber Music Society and the Buffalo Chamber Music Society.

The current season sees the quartet’s debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel; in addition, the group tours the UK with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and continues its relationship with the Wigmore Hall, returning to collaborate with jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman. The Escher Quartet gives further performances at New York’s Lincoln Center and finishes the season with a return to Music@Menlo. Further significant debuts follow next season including Berlin’s Konzerthaus, the Rio International Chamber Music Week in Brazil and the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival, as well as a debut appearance at London’s Kings Place.

The Escher Quartet has recorded the complete Zemlinsky String Quartets on the Naxos label and released Vol. 1 in July 2013; Vol. 2 follows in Summer 2014. Forthcoming releases include the Mendelssohn Quartet cycle on the BIS label.

The Escher Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.

Booklet für Zemlinsky: String Quartets, Vol. 2