One hundred years after his death on 25 March 1918, many artists are eager to pay tribute to Claude Debussy, the magician of melody and timbre, the great ‘colorist’ and father of modern music.
The musicians of the Jerusalem Quartet offer a new reading of his only String Quartet, in the logical coupling with its Ravel counterpart: in some respects, the two works might seem like twins – and yet what differences there are between them!
Gramophone Magazine wrote:
“It’s a strikingly intense performance, grand in scale, emotionally heated and dark in tone…the richness and weight of the Jerusalem Quartet’s sound spreads a pall of sensuality over the whole work, and the sweep and urgency of the phrasing create a heady immediacy throughout…It’s a fine performance, beautifully articulated and superbly played, but ultimately it’s the Debussy that is the disc’s raison d’être. It’s quite remarkable: do listen to it.”
Here is the third movement of the Debussy String Quartet:
