Betting Magazine From 6 Settembre 2016

This is the second volume in the Doric String Quartet’s series devoted to Haydn’s String Quartets. Op. 76 turned out to be the last full set of six string quartets that Haydn was to compose. While they were written over the period 1796-97, they were not published until 1799. They had been commissioned by Count Joseph Erdödy, and such arrangements often entailed, as in this case, a period of time during which the works were reserved for that person’s exclusive use and enjoyment. The composition of Op. 76 coincided with Haydn’s work on Die Schöpfung and the first few of the six masses which Haydn wrote for the name day of Princess Maria Hermenegild Esterházy, and one can readily imagine that such compositional preoccupations rubbed off onto the composition of the quartets. However, that cannot be equated with a particular predominant ‘opus character’, a feature of some of Haydn’s previous sets. Rather – like Op. 20, also recently recorded by the Doric String Quartet (CHAN10831(2)) – the quartets seem to be most remarkable for their sheer variety.

This duo’s heroic, orchestral indie rock was made for big feelings and big moments. Layered with choirs and gusty chords, the soundtrack is magical, harrowing, and gorgeous. Part musical and part internal monologue, it channels the surging energy of Arcade Fire and Band of Horses while recharging the role of a movie score.

On their 2016 release From the Deep, eclectic British rare groove enthusiasts the Heliocentrics take a dip through their archives, unearthing a multitude of tracks cut at their former recording home base, Quatermass Studios. As with most of their recordings, however, these outer-dimensional transmissions could have been beamed from seemingly any time in the past, present, or future.