Notes and Editorial Reviews
Edvard Grieg's G minor string quartet sounds terrific in this sensitive arrangement for string orchestra by Alf Ardal. The truth is that the work has a quasi-orchestral character anyway. Its wealth of double-stops and chordal writing generally benefits from the natural resonance and amplitude of larger forces, and banishes the criticism that Grieg failed to achieve a true quartet texture. Of course that complaint is largely nonsense, but the fact remains that the work has not achieved the popularity that it surely deserves. Here, as a veritable "symphony for strings", especially in this gutsy, ferocious performance, it makes an unforgettable impression.
Arne Nordheim's
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Rendezvous is another work for quartet that was later expanded for string orchestra. It has three well-proportioned movements. Much of the music is elegiac, though at times dramatic, and the concluding Nachruf (Epitaph) is quite beautiful. So much modern string writing, especially when it touches on darker feelings, simply sounds neurotic when not just plain irritating, but this work manages to be at once contemporary, passionate, and quite moving. As with the Grieg, the performances are splendid: bold, confident, ideally balanced, and quite wonderfully recorded.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsTody.com
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Works on This Recording
1.
Quartet for Strings in G minor, Op. 27 by Edvard Grieg
Conductor:
Stephan Barratt-Due
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Oslo Camerata
Period: Romantic
Written: 1877-1878; Norway
2.
Quartet for Strings in F major by Edvard Grieg
Conductor:
Stephan Barratt-Due
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Oslo Camerata
Period: Romantic
Written: 1891; Norway
3.
Rendezvous for Strings by Arne Nordheim
Conductor:
Stephan Barratt-Due
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Oslo Camerata
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1956; Norway
Sound Samples
String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27 (arr. A. Ardal for string orchestra): I. Un poco andante - Allegro molto ed agitato
String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27 (arr. A. Ardal for string orchestra): II. Romanze: Andantino - Allegro agitato
String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27 (arr. A. Ardal for string orchestra): III. Intermezzo: Allegro molto marcato - Piu vivo e scherzando
String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27 (arr. A. Ardal for string orchestra): IV. Finale: Lento - Presto al saltarello
String Quartet in F major, EG 117 (arr. A. Ardal for string orchestra): I. Sostenuto - Allegro vivace e grazioso
String Quartet in F major, EG 117 (arr. A. Ardal for string orchestra): II. Allegro scherzando - Piu vivo - Allegro scherzando
Rendezvous: I. Praeambulum (quasi una fantasia)
Rendezvous: II. Intermezzo
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