Mendelssohn: String Quartets, Vol. 1 Doric String Quartet

• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847): String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25:
• 1 String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: I. Adagio non troppo - Allegro non tardante 07:30
• 2 String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: II. Canzonetta. Allegretto - Più mosso 04:03
• 3 String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: III. Andante espressivo 04:17
• 4 String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R25: IV. Molto allegro e vivace 08:04
• String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37:
• 5 String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: I. Allegro vivace assai 07:40
• 6 String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: II. Allegro assai 05:58
• 7 String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: III. Adagio 08:02
• 8 String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, MWV R37: IV. Finale. Allegro molto 05:55
• String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28:
• 9 String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: I. Allegro vivace 12:28
• 10 String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: II. Scherzo. Assai leggiero e vivace 04:04
• 11 String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: III. Adagio non troppo 09:26
• 12 String Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3, MWV R28: IV. Molto allegro con fuoco 08:21
• Total Runtime 01:25:48

Info for Mendelssohn: String Quartets, Vol. 1

Alongside its ongoing and much lauded Haydn and Schubert series, both on-stage and on-record, the Doric String Quartet with this Mendelssohn album is adding a new milestone in its repertoire.

Mendelssohn wrote and published these three quartets at very different stages in his life and they therefore outline the complete trajectory of his creative output.

The early Op. 12, also called No. 1, was composed in London and includes many musical allusions to Beethoven, dead only a few years before its composition. These subtly contrast with Mendelssohn’s genially flowing energy.

While Op. 44 No. 3, which incorporates many deft variations, developments, and combinations, follows an extended honeymoon tour and Mendelssohn’s twenty-ninth birthday, Op. 80 emerged from a bout of helpless depression after the sudden death of Mendelssohn’s older sister and confidante, Fanny. Mendelssohn described this quartet as a Requiem, and the nervous agitation often found in his music here bursts forth with full force. Resignation, agitation, and nostalgia shape the work, the almost shocking finality of which may be said to prefigure Mendelssohn’s own death only six months later.

“… the Doric enter the first movement of the Op. 12 Quartet with assurance in that musical world. There is confidence and unanimity of approach to dynamics, tone vibrato and rubato; and the change of style to the more elegantly Mendelssohnian ‘Canzonetta’ is effortlessly made. The naturalness of the playing is matched by the comprehensive Chandos sound: not too distant, and with exactly the right amount of resonance …” (Martin Cotton, BBC Music magazine)

Doric String Quartet

The Doric String Quartet is now firmly established as one of the outstanding quartets of their generation. In 2008 they won 1st prize in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy, where they also received a special mention for their performance of Haydn, and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.

Now in its 12th season highlights over the last year have included a critically acclaimed Haydn evening at Wigmore Hall broadcast by BBC Radio 3, debut recitals in Paris (Auditorium du Louvre), Milan and Frankfurt, and visits to the Schwetzinger, Florestan, Isle of Man and East Neuk Festivals. Further afield the Quartet toured throughout Japan and returned to Israel and South East Asia. They have collaborated with Mark Padmore, Chen Halevi, Julius Drake, Piers Lane, Melvyn Tan, the Leopold String Trio and Florestan Trio.

During 2009/10 the Quartet return to Wigmore Hall four times, as Quartet and in recitals with Philip Langridge, Andrew Kennedy (for a world premiere) and Alasdair Beatson. Future engagements include recitals at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and in Lucerne, Brussels and Hamburg, return visits to Israel and Italy, and debut concerts in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and the USA.

In November the Doric’s first commercial CD is released on the Wigmore Hall Live label of their Haydn concert at Wigmore Hall on 15 January 2009 and in 2010 they record their first CD for Chandos as part of a long-term collaboration.

Formed in 1998 at Pro Corda, The National School for Young Chamber Music Players, in Suffolk, from 2002 the Doric String Quartet studied on the Paris-based ProQuartet Professional Training Program, where they worked with members of the Alban Berg, Artemis, Hagen and LaSalle Quartets and with Gyorgy Kurtag. The Quartet continue to work with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) at the Music Academy in Basel.

In 2000 the Doric String Quartet won the inaugural Bristol Millennium Chamber Music Competition which led to a seven year residency at the Wiltshire Music Centre combining a concerts series with education work across the region. They continue this relationship as ‘Artists in Association’. The Quartet went on to give recitals at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall under the auspices of the Park Lane Group, appeared at the ORF (Austrian Radio) Funkhaus in Vienna in 2003 and made their Edinburgh Festival debut in 2006.

Alex Redington and Jonathan Stone completed their postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in 2005 where they studied with Howard Davis. Simon Tandree studied in Saarbrücken and Detmold with Dietmut Poppen. John Myerscough graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge in 2003 and is now a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studies with Louise Hopkins.

The Doric String Quartet acknowledges the generous support of an Anonymous Foundation.

Booklet for Mendelssohn: String Quartets, Vol. 1