Luís de Freitas Branco - String Quartet; Cello Sonata (Takács Quartet; Miklós Perényi)

Information

Composer: Luís de Freitas Branco

• (01) String Quartet
• (05) Sonata for Cello and Piano

Takács Quartet
Gábor Takács-Nagy, violin
Károly Schranz, violin
Gábor Ormai, viola
András Fejér, cello

Miklós Perényi, cello
Jenő Jandó, piano

Date: 1988
Label: Portugalsom

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Review

Freitas Branco, one of the founding fathers of modern Portuguese music, showed a great inclination towards abstract music, quite unlike most older composers of his times. Quite early on, he composed important chamber works. Indeed, his First Violin Sonata was composed in 1907 when he was seventeen.

A few years later, he completed the impressive String Quartet (1911), a quite substantial piece also bearing Franck's imprint, especially the cyclic structure which remained a hallmark of Freitas Branco's music, even in his later symphonies and in his Second Violin Sonata of 1928. However, Freitas Branco's string quartet also has its composer moving towards Debussy and Impressionism, though his attitude to Impressionism remains at a rather superficial level. (Freitas Branco will soon adopt some sort of "Frenchified" Neo-Classicism, from the First Symphony of 1924 onwards.) The Quartetto de Cordas of 1911 is in four movements, though its structure is fairly unusual in that the first two movements (Moderado [sic] and Vivo) are quite short, the following Lento much longer whereas the last movement Animado [sic] is both the longest and the most complex. Curiously enough, and this may result from the composer's Franckian approach, the work's structure is remarkably coherent. Freitas Branco's only string quartet is an ambitious, warmly lyrical work that repays repeated hearings, especially in a fine performance as this one by the celebrated Takács Quartet.

The Sonata para violoncello e piano, completed in 1913, is quite comparable to either the string quartet of the First Violin Sonata, in that it again strictly adheres to the cyclic constructed inherited from Franck. From this point of view, the Cello Sonata is still more tightly argued than either of the aforementioned pieces. But again, Freitas Branco's heartfelt lyricism makes one completely forget any formal or structural considerations and merely enjoy the music. This again is a warmly Romantic piece, much in the same way as, say, Frank Bridge' Cello Sonata or York Bowen's. There is much to relish here, particularly so in this beautifully assured and committed reading by Miklós Perényi and Jenö Jandó.

Franck has often been mentioned in these reviews of Freitas Branco's early music because he really was an important influence on many composers of Freitas Branco's generation and on somewhat older ones who directly worked with Franck, but Freitas Branco's music has its own character, what I have already referred to as 'sunny lyricism' which is certainly one of its most endearing qualities. These fairly early pieces reflect the enriching experience of Freitas Branco's early maturity.

Very rewarding indeed, quite enjoyable and well-worth having.

-- Hubert Culot, MusicWeb International

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Luís de Freitas Branco (Lisbon, 12 October 1890 – Lisbon, 27 November 1955) was a Portuguese composer, musicologist, and professor of music who played a pre-eminent part in the development of Portuguese music in the first half of the 20th century. Born into an aristocratic family, Freitas Branco had a cosmopolitan education and began composing at a precocious age. He studied music in Berlin and Paris, where he worked with Engelbert Humperdinck and other composers. He became professor of composition in 1916 at the Lisbon Conservatory of Music, where he taught, among many others, Joly Braga Santos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_de_Freitas_Branco

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Takács Quartet is a string quartet, founded in Hungary, and now based in Boulder, Colorado, United States. In 1975, four students at the Music Academy in Budapest, Gábor Takács-Nagy (first violin), Károly Schranz (second violin), Gábor Ormai (viola), and András Fejér (cello) formed The Takács Quartet. Current members include: Edward Dusinberre & Károly Schranz (violins), Geraldine Walther (viola), and András Fejér (cello). The quartet has recorded extensively for Decca and Hyperion, and has received several nominations and awards such as a Grammy Award and a Gramophone Award.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tak%C3%A1cs_Quartet

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Miklós Perényi (born 5 January 1948 in Budapest) is a Hungarian cellist. He studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Ede Banda and Enrico Mainardi. In 1963 he won a prize at the Pablo Casals International Violoncello Competition in Budapest. In 1965 and 1966 he studied with Pablo Casals in Zermatt and Puerto Rico. In 1974 he became a lecturer and in 1980 a professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, but while teaching continued to perform internationally. He has been a regular guest of the Theatre de la Ville in Paris for solo works and chamber music performances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikl%C3%B3s_Per%C3%A9nyi

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