Doric String Quartet - Beethoven: String Quartets Vol.1 (2023) Hi-Res

The Doric String Quartet is firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics around the globe. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, the Quartet here embarks on a significant new recording project – the complete string quartets by Beethoven. This first volume combines works from Beethoven’s early, middle, and late period. The six quartets Op. 18 were the first he composed, in 1799 and 1800, encouraged by Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz, a significant patron of the arts. Once he had completed the set, Beethoven heavily revised the first three quartets, writing to a friend: ‘I have changed it considerably; for I have only now learned to write quartets correctly, as you will see when you receive them.’ Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky was the Russian ambassador to the Vieneese court, and the dedicatee of the three quartets Op. 59. The last of the middle-period quartets, Op. 95 (Serioso) was dedicated to Beethoven’s close friend and accomplished cellist Nikolaus Zmeskall and is regarded as showing a glimpse of what would come: Beethoven’s late quartets. Extremely complex and largely misunderstood by musicians and audiences in Beethoven's day, these quartets are now widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, and have inspired many later composers. Op. 127, featured in this volume, is the first of these monumental works.
Tracklist
01. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: I. Allegro con brio
02. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato
03. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: III. Scherzo. Allegro molto – Trio – Scherzo da capo
04. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: IV. Allegro
05. Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: I. Allegro con brio
06. Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: II. Adagio ma non troppo
07. Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: III. Scherzo. Allegro – Trio – Scherzo da capo
08. Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: IV. La Malinconia. Questo pezzo si deve trattare colla più gran delicatezza
09. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": I. Allegro con brio
10. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": II. Allegretto ma non troppo
11. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": III. Allegro assai vivace ma serioso – Più Allegro
12. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": IV. Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato – Allegro
13. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: I. Allegro
14. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando
15. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: III. Adagio molto e mesto – Molto cantabile
16. Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: IV. Thème russe. Allegro – Adagio ma non troppo – Presto
17. Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: I. Maestoso – Allegro – Maestoso – Allegro – Maestoso – Allegro
18. Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: II. Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile
19. Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: III. Scherzo. Vivace
20. Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: IV. Finale. Allegro – Allegro comodo