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Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Paul Hindemith - String Quartets Vol. 2 (Amar Quartet)


Information

Composer: Paul Hindemith
  • (01) String Quartet No. 5, Op. 32
  • (05) String Quartet No. 6 in E flat major
  • (09) String Quartet No. 7 in E flat major

Amar Quartet
Anna Brunner, violin
Igor Keller, violin
Hannes Bärtschi, viola
Péter Somodari, cello

Date: 2012
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572164

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

This second volume in Naxos’ series of the complete Hindemith quartets contains two of the composer’s largest and best works in the medium. The Fifth Quartet (1923) represents an apotheosis of the composer’s early, experimental phase. The music is chromatic and relentlessly contrapuntal, but also brilliant and even fun (in its third movement). It culminates in an imposing passacaglia that, like the opening double fugue, is remarkably easy to follow while at the same time sounding amazingly modern.

The Sixth Quartet dates from 20 years later, but like its predecessor it can be said to summarize the more lyrical, tonal, mature idiom of the composer’s American period. Sample the gorgeous theme of the work’s third-movement variations (sound clip), one of Hindemith’s most captivating inspirations. The brief Seventh Quartet is altogether lighter, a diverting work written for the composer to play with his wife and students. Surely its premiere performance wasn’t as fine as this one.

As with the previous releases in this series, the performances are all outstanding. The Amar Quartet, named after Hindemith’s own ensemble of the early 20th century, plays this music with a proprietary gusto worthy of the name. All of these pieces are, as already noted, highly contrapuntal—even the genial Seventh Quartet ends with a canon; but the playing here never sounds dry or mechanical, and the sonics are first rate. Connoisseurs of chamber music will find this disc an endless source of pleasure.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Dec12/Hindemith_quartets_v2_8572164.htm
https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21718
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.572164&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Hindemith-String-Quartets-Vol-2/dp/B00906II7W

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Paul Hindemith (16 November 1895 – 28 December 1963) was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher and conductor. Hindemith is among the most significant German composers of his time. His early works are in a late romantic idiom, and he later produced expressionist works, before developing his neoclassical style in the 1920s. Notable compositions include his song cycle Das Marienleben (1923) and opera Mathis der Maler (1938). Hindemith's most popular work, both on record and in the concert hall, is probably the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, written in 1943.

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Named after its principal violinist Licco Amar, Paul Hindemith founded the original Amar Quartet in 1922. On the occasion of Hindemith's 100th birthday in 1995, the Hindemith Institute awarded this historic name to a newly founded Zürich-based ensemble. During its studies with the Alban Berg Quartet, the Amar won numerous international awards, followed by successful debuts at famous concert-halls, as well as invitations to teach in master-classes. The ensemble has shown passionate engagement with the work of Paul Hindemith, and is increasingly making a name for itself in Switzerland.
https://www.naxos.com/person/Amar_Quartet/122297.htm
https://www.amarquartett.ch/

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