SZYMANOWSKI / STRAVINSKY: String Quartets, Concertino, Three Pieces, Double Canon

Goldner Quartet

8.554315

The two string quartets make up the sum total of Szymanowski's contribution to the chamber music repertoire. The String Quartet No. 1 (1917) received its first performance in Warsaw in March 1924. A transitional work, it moves away from impressionistic effects and seems to anticipate the forthcoming discovery of folksong. The opening Lento assai is cast in sonata form, whilst the bipartite slow movement, as its subtitle in moda d'una canzona suggests, possesses a rare melodic beauty. The last movement is a scherzo (a projected fourth movement was never written), a fugal sonata allegro in which each instrumental part is written in a different key, rising in minor thirds: C-E flat – F sharp-A. • Strong Tatra folk music elements are to be found in the String Quartet No. 2 (1927), although the first movement seems to seek a rapprochement with the harmonic world of his impressionist period. The ostinato accompaniments and rhythmic energy of the second movement clearly show an acquaintance with the music of Bartók, whilst the slow fugal finale employs a folk-melody as its main subject and incorporates other Tatra melodies

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

Naxos

17-07-2000

636943431528

BBC Music Magazine: 'Outstanding Quality' (2011)