Stanford: String Quartets Dante Quartet

• Charles Villiers Stanford (1852 - 1924): String Quartet No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 64:
• 1 String Quartet No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 64: I. Allegro moderato ma appassionato 06:05
• 2 String Quartet No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 64: II. Allegretto semplice 05:40
• 3 String Quartet No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 64: III. Andante quasi fantasia 07:54
• 4 String Quartet No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 64: IV. Allegro feroce ma non troppo mosso 07:01
• String Quartet No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 99:
• 5 String Quartet No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 99: I. Allegro moderato 09:46
• 6 String Quartet No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 99: II. Allegretto vivace 04:18
• 7 String Quartet No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 99: II. Adagio 07:08
• 8 String Quartet No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 99: IV. Allegro molto vivace 06:44
• String Quartet No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 166:
• 9 String Quartet No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 166: I. Allegretto ma con fuoco 07:26
• 10 String Quartet No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 166: II. Andante 06:57
• 11 String Quartet No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 166: III. Allegro molto 03:31
• 12 String Quartet No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 166: IV. Allegro giusto 03:18
• Total Runtime 01:15:48

Info for Stanford: String Quartets

The second volume in Somm Recordings’ complete survey of Charles Villiers Stanford’s eight String Quartets sees the Dante Quartet return with first recordings of the Third, Fourth and Seventh Quartets.

Stanford came late to the string quartet form, composing his first two in 1891 aged 50 and trailing glory behind him as an acclaimed composer of choral music. His Third Quartet followed five years later. Dedicated to “my friends the Joachim Quartet” (its leader Joseph Joachim the posthumous dedicatee of his Fifth String Quartet) it moves from stern agitation and lyrical poise to introspective intensity before ending with a ferocious, dance-like finale.

As Stanford authority Jeremy Dibble notes in his booklet essay: “The idiom of the string quartet was always a serious intellectual challenge for Stanford and this example is no exception in its demonstration of structural subtlety, thematic imagination and brilliant ensemble writing.”

Completed a decade later, the Fourth Quartet is a work of fierce technical challenges – “brimfull with invention” as Dibble pithily observes – its playful Scherzo a dazzling example of Stanford’s love of continuing variation, the melancholic slow movement and virtuoso finale drawing deep from the Dublin-born composer’s richly emotional Irish heritage.

The Seventh Quartet is one of Stanford’s most varied and vital exercises in the form. Viola and cello are pitched against each other in the stern, contrapuntal dialogue of its first movement with a tour de force Scherzo at its heart and a finale that dances delightfully in irregular phrase lengths to end in an energetic flourish.

Issued in late 2016, Volume One in the series was admired as “an excellent disc in every respect” (MusicWeb International), applauded as “most enterprising and thoroughly likeable” (Classical Ear) and acclaimed “a really worthwhile release” (Gramophone).

Dante Quartet

The Dante Quartet
Winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for chamber music in 2007 and a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2009, the Dante Quartet is one of Britain’s finest ensembles. Founded in 1995, the quartet chose Dante’s name to reflect the idea of a great journey. Renowned for its imaginative programming and emotionally charged performances, the Dante Quartet appears at the major UK festivals and music societies, broadcasts on Radio 3 and has also toured France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Poland, Finland and Japan. The quartet has made four highly acclaimed recordings for Hyperion, and for seven years held a residency at King’s College Cambridge. Devoted to the core classics – including the complete Beethoven Quartet cycle – the Dante Quartet equally enjoys bringing to light new or neglected repertoire. Committed also to teaching, the Dante Quartet gives master classes in the UK and runs a high-level chamber music course in the South of France. The quartet has its own annual Dante Summer a Festival in the Tamar Valley, in which they create new musical projects and collaborations, attracting young people to chamber music and building up an enthusiastic audience in intimate and beautiful surroundings.

Booklet for Stanford: String Quartets