String Quartets 1-3 / Three Divertimenti
Britten/Doric Stri
CD
Founded in 1998 at Pro Corda, Suffolk, the multi-award-winning Doric String Quartet describes recording Britten's quartets as a significant milestone: 'In our recording we have endeavoured to tread a line that brings out the humanity in these works but also recognises the need for distance and fragility. This is very personal and intimate music, yet also world-encompassing and timeless.' The Quartet continues: 'Another feature of this recording is that Hélène Clément, our violist, is playing on Benjamin Britten's own viola. This instrument (on loan from the Britten-Pears Foundation) was made in 1843 in Milan by Francesco Guissani. It was previously owned by the composer Frank Bridge who gave it to Britten, as a departure gift when Britten and Pears set sail for the USA in 1939.' Hélène Clément writes: 'To be able to explore the music of Britten with the very sound that the composer had in his ears is the greatest honour and joy I could have imagined.'
Tracklist:
- String Quartet No. 1, Op. 25: I. Andante Sostenuto
- String Quartet No. 1, Op. 25: II. Allegretto Con Slancio
- String Quartet No. 1, Op. 25: III. Andante Calmo
- String Quartet No. 1, Op. 25: IV. Molto Vivace
- 3 Divertimenti: I. March. Allegro Maestoso
- 3 Divertimenti: II. Waltz. Allegretto
- 3 Divertimenti: III. Burlesque
- String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94: I. Duets. With Moderate Movement
- String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94: II. Ostinato. Very Fast
- String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94: III. Solo. Very Calm
- String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94: IV. Burlesque. Fast, Con Fuoco
- String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94: V. Recitative & Passacaglia (La Serenissima)
- Fantasy In F Major, Z. 737
- Fantasy In C Minor, Z. 738
- Fantasy In D Minor, Z. 739
- Fantasy In A Minor, Z. 740
- Fantasy In E Minor, Z. 741
- String Quartet No. 2, Op. 36: I. Allegro Calmo Senza Rigore
- String Quartet No. 2, Op. 36: II. Vivace
- String Quartet No. 2, Op. 36: III. Chacony. Sostenuto