The String Chees Incident

Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions is an epic new project by Grammy Award-winning producer Ryan Truesdell, which pairs 15 large ensemble jazz composers with a historic instrumentation through newly commissioned works for string quartet.

Carl Nielsen took Danish music into the 20th century, and his chamber music has a prominent position in the international repertoire. In spite of this Carl Nielsen only composed a limited number of chamber works for strings. This CD features two of his string quartets (in G minor and G major) and the only string quintet (in G major) he ever composed. All three works played a central role in Carl Nielsen's musical career, since they were major successes for the debuting composer and contributed to his initial breakthrough.

The Philharmonic String Quartet Berlin presents works by Josef Suk and Antonín Dvořák with gripping precision and exciting colours. Although contrasting, the two pieces are still closely connected: Dvořák’s cheerful and dazzling String Quartet No. 13 composed during a period full of joy and carelessness, and the String Quartet No. 2 by Suk – Dvořák’s son-in-law, who premiered both of the recorded quartets himself – which was written after a deep crisis and depicts full, rich and heavy harmonies.

Count Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna, commissioned Beethoven to write the three quartets of Op.59 in 1805 for the Schuppanzigh Quartet. The Count was an amateur violinist and frequently played as second violinist with the Schuppanzigh Quartet, a group he funded and whose members were considered to be some of Vienna’s finest string players. In his commission, Count Razumovsky’s only specific request of Beethoven was that Russian folk tunes be significantly featured in the music.

Count Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna, commissioned Beethoven to write the three quartets of Op.59 in 1805 for the Schuppanzigh Quartet. The Count was an amateur violinist and frequently played as second violinist with the Schuppanzigh Quartet, a group he funded and whose members were considered to be some of Vienna’s finest string players. In his commission, Count Razumovsky’s only specific request of Beethoven was that Russian folk tunes be significantly featured in the music.

Formed in 2016, the Quatuor Agate derives its name from one of the most beautiful chamber music pieces, Johannes Brahms’s Second Sextet, dedicated to his second love, Agathe von Siebold. Seven years later, this fascination with Brahms materialized with the release of their debut album in February 2024, featuring the complete String Quartets under Appassionato, le label.

This is the first volume in the Schubert String Quartets Project. “We take our name from a song of Franz Schubert.

This album consists of world premiere recordings of Robert Paterson’s three string quartets: String Quartet No. 1, String Quartet No. 2, and String Quartet No. 3. These three quartets span a period of over twenty years, with the first quartet having been composed in 2000, and the second and third composed in 2019, and 2020, respectively. This begs the question: what took so long for Paterson to compose another string quartet? Why wait almost twenty years, and why did he compose his second and third quartets so close together?

Carl Nielsen took Danish music into the 20th century, and his chamber music has a prominent position in the international repertoire. In spite of this Carl Nielsen only composed a limited number of chamber works for strings. This CD features two of his string quartets (in G minor and G major) and the only string quintet (in G major) he ever composed. All three works played a central role in Carl Nielsen's musical career, since they were major successes for the debuting composer and contributed to his initial breakthrough.

Through the intimate voice of the string quartet, Diffusion explores a mosaic of folk cultures through the lens Janáček's String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters," Szymanowski's String Quartet No. 2 Op. 56, and Ravel's String Quartet in F Major M. 35. As an ensemble of four nations (Singapore, Canada, United States, and United Kingdom), the Verona Quartet reveals a kaleidoscopic snapshot of cultural migration at the turn of the century.