Artemis String Quartet performs:
- Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, and 6.
This new CD, containing three of Mendelssohn’s six quartets, brings us works from three distinct periods in the composer’s life: Number 2 in A minor, op 13, written in 1827, when he was still a teenager; Number 3 in D major, op 44, No. 1, from 1838 – by which stage he was already at the peak of his career, and Number 6 in A minor, op 80, composed just months before he died at the age of 38, following the death of his beloved sister, Fannie.
We hear the following selections:
Mendelssohn:
- String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1
- String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80
- String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13
Performed by the Artemis Quartet.
The Artemis Quartet’s cellist, Eckart Runge, feels that “Mendelssohn is still a misunderstood composer. Some people continue to view him as somehow superficial and lacking in substance. The truth is that he was a huge talent and a huge intellect. For instance, his rediscovery and advocacy of Bach is reflected in his music. His quartets are both highly sophisticated and profoundly eloquent – they have both great emotional directness and that particular depth that characterizes many composers’ work in the genre.”
Here are excerpts from Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 44, No. 1:
And next, here is the Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13, first movement, Adagio — Allegro vivace:
Tags: Felix Mendelssohn, quartets, Artemis Quartet, Runge
