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msv 92051 |
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VARIATIONS Two major works for string quartet which both present structured, yet "polystylistic" forms- attuned to the modern ear, which is used to hearing "sound bites" - and what Schwartz calls "collage-oriented". It is rare to find music written with so much emphasis on the listener, |
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| playing time: 63.05 direct sale price: £8.50 audio sample: Bellagio Variation no. 2 |
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tracks: Elliott Schwartz: |
review extracts: for full reviews click here | ||
| “George Rochberg's Third Quartet from 1972 is a masterpiece that rejects serial modernism, going beyond quotation in a revival of the styles of Mahler and Beethoven. The Quartet is no postmodern pastiche either… powerful advocacy from The Kreutzer Quartet.” - Andy Hamilton (The Wire) | |||
| “George Rochberg's String Quartet no. 3 is one of the great essays in this medium of the latter half of the 20th century. How wonderful to hear the Kreutzer Quartet perform this influential work. Schwartz [in the Variations] twists all the knobs, from spiky to sentimental, to keep the listener engaged throughout. This is a keeper album.” - Mark Alburger (21st Century Music) | |||
| “The members of the Kreutzer Quartet handle [the challenges of the Schwartz] with breathtaking sensitivity. In the Kreutzer's hands the Bellagio Variations receive a wonderfully nuanced performance, by turns (and sometimes all at once) taut, luxurious, witty and ferocious, entirely befitting the wilfully disorienting, dream-like nature of the music.” - Tom Myron (Brunswick Times) | |||