Jerusalem Quartet – Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18 (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Jerusalem Quartet – Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18 (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:33:21 minutes | 2,65 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

‘Only now have I learnt how to write quartets properly.’ So wrote Beethoven in 1801, having just finished his first set of string quartets at the surprisingly advanced age of 30: the competition of Haydn and Mozart must have been intimidating for the young composer. But these six Quartets op.18, which cost him great effort and extensive revision, already display much boldness and originality, from the dramatic echoes of Romeo and Juliet in no.1 to the astonishing programmatic finale of no.6, ‘La Malinconia’.

“Ce n’est que maintenant que j’ai appris à bien composer des quatuors.” Ainsi s’exprime Beethoven en 1801, alors qu’il vient de terminer son premier recueil de quatuors à cordes à l’âge plutôt avancé de 30 ans : la concurrence de Haydn et de Mozart devait être écrasante pour le jeune compositeur. Mais ces six Quatuors op.18, qui lui coûtèrent tant d’efforts et de remaniements, témoignent déjà d’audace et d’originalité, depuis les échos dramatiques du Roméo et Juliette de Shakespeare dans le n°1 jusqu’à l’étonnant finale programmatique du n°6, “La Malinconia”.

„… indem ich erst jezt recht quartetten zu schreiben weiß …” So schrieb Beethoven 1801, nachdem er gerade seine erste Sammlung von Streichquartetten im eher fortgeschrittenen Alter von 30 Jahren beendet hatte: Der Vergleich mit Haydn und Mozart muss dem jungen Komponisten mächtig Ehrfurcht eingejagt haben. Aber diese sechs Quartette op. 18, die ihn viel Mühe und Revisionsarbeit gekostet hatten, verraten bereits große Kühnheit und Originalität – vom dramatischen Nachklang von Shakespeares Romeo und Julia in Nummer 1 bis zum erstaunlich programmatischen Finale von Nummer 6, „La Malinconia“.

Tracklist:

01. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro (07:26)
02. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: II. Andante con moto (07:05)
03. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: III. Allegro (02:38)
04. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: IV. Presto (06:29)
05. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro con brio (08:47)
06. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato (08:39)
07. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo. Allegro molto – Trio (03:20)
08. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: IV. Allegro (06:26)
09. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro (07:28)
10. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: II. Adagio cantabile (06:02)
11. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo (04:45)
12. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: IV. Allegro molto, quasi presto (05:17)
13. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: I. Allegro ma non tanto (08:18)
14. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: II. Andante scherzoso quasi Allegretto (07:21)
15. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: III. Menuetto. Allegro – Trio (03:12)
16. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: IV. Allegretto (04:22)
17. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No .5 in A Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro (09:29)
18. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No .5 in A Major, Op. 18: II. Menuetto – Trio (04:34)
19. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No .5 in A Major, Op. 18: III. Andante cantabile (09:00)
20. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No .5 in A Major, Op. 18: IV. Allegro (06:20)
21. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro con brio (08:22)
22. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: II. Adagio ma non troppo (06:29)
23. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo (03:26)
24. Jerusalem Quartet – String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: IV. La Malinconia – Allegretto quasi Allegro (07:52)

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