Brodsky Quartet - New World Quartets (2014/2022) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

The Brodsky Quartet, continuing to pioneer unique repertoire on Chandos Records, presents a programme of works from the ‘New World’ that explores an American sound in the string quartet. The earliest piece on the disc is the American String Quartet, in F major by Antonín Dvořák, the only non-American composer in the release.

His attempt to capture an American sound results in music of notable simplicity, directness, and good humour. In the String Quartet by Samuel Barber we hear an unashamedly romantic composer displaying a more European style. The central Adagio has become enormously popular in an arrangement for string orchestra. Far more distinctively American in idiom is the music of George Gershwin whose Lullaby was his first attempt at classical composition. Copland’s Two Pieces, a work written as a tribute to Gabriel Fauré, is featured along with an original arrangement by members of the Brodsky Quartet of his Hoe –Down. This famous work is enormously evocative of rural America and is heavily indebted to traditional tunes from Celtic settlers. Dave Brubeck is best known as a jazz pianist but he employs his classical training in Regret, which evokes the soundworld and emotional depth of the high baroque style while creating a unique link between the worlds of classical and jazz.

"the most persuasive playing comes in the shorter items. Gershwin's sultry Lullaby is nicely contrasted with the spicy seasoning and rhythmic zest of Copland's Two Pieces and the 'Hoe-Down' from Rodeo" (Gramophone)

Tracklist:
01. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, B. 179, "American": I. Allegro ma non troppo
02. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, B. 179, "American": II. Lento
03. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, B. 179, "American": III. Molto vivace
04. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, B. 179, "American": IV. Finale. Vivace ma non troppo
05. Copland: Two Pieces for String Quartet: I. Lento molto. Tranquillo legato
06. Copland: Two Pieces for String Quartet: II. Rondino. Allegro moderato
07. Barber: String Quartet, Op. 11: I. Molto allegro e appassionato (Revised 1938)
08. Barber: String Quartet, Op. 11: II. Molto adagio (Revised 1938)
09. Barber: String Quartet, Op. 11: III. Molto allegro (come prima) (Revised 1938)
10. Gershwin: Lullaby for String Quartet
11. Copland: Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes. IV. Hoe-Down (Arr. for String Quartet)
12. Brubeck: Regret (Version for String Quartet)


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