- String Quartets.
Zemlinsky was born on October 14, 1871 in Vienna, and he died March 15, 1942 in Larchmont, New York. Zemlinsky’s entire family converted to the religion of his maternal grandfather, Judaism, and Zemlinsky was born and raised Jewish.
We hear the following compositions on this recording:
Zemlinsky:
- String Quartet No. 1 in A major, Op. 4
- String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15
Performed by the Escher String Quartet
In 1896, at the age of twenty-five, Alexander Zemlinsky was one of the rising stars in the Viennese musical world. His first opera had been written, he had won a number of awards, and he had earned the support of Johannes Brahms.
In July of the same year he began writing his first string quartet, a work of great lyricism and rich dance rhythms.
Seventeen years later he began his second string quartet, which has an entirely different mood, and it relates more to the music of the new century – led by his brother-in-in-law Arnold Schoenberg. (Photo at top left).
The distinction between these two works is really astounding. Judge for yourself, as compared to an even later work, the Quartet #4.
Here is the Zemlinsky — String Quartet № 1:
And next, here is his totally different Quartet #4, Op. 25 — Adagietto:
http://youtu.be/8RExHZvLxeo
I will end with Alexander Zemlinsky’s Trio in D Minor, Op.3, for clarinet, Cello and piano:
Tags: Alexander Zemlinsky, String Quartet #1, String Quartet #2
