Notes and Editorial Reviews
In a characteristically imaginative stroke of programming, the Quatuor Ebène presents a total of three quartets by two Mendelssohns – Felix and his older sister, Fanny.
Like Felix, Fanny was a highly gifted child, but, as a woman, her life took a different path from his. Felix remained close to her and solicited and respected her opinions on his music. She, meanwhile, produced a canon of well over 400 pieces – although only one string quartet; by contrast, Felix composed seven works in the genre, one of them a youthful work that carries no opus number. This disc features the A minor quartet he composed in 1827, very much under the influence of Beethoven, and the F minor quartet of 20 years later, a highly emotional
Read more
piece, expressive of the grief he felt at Fanny's death, aged 41, in May 1847. As it turned out, the quartet was to be the last major work he composed: he himself died in November of that year, at the age of just 38.
“Felix’s quartets speak with intimacy, but are not devoid of violent, stormy emotion,” says Raphaël Merlin of the Quatuor Ebène. He praises Fanny for composing “with surprising freedom”, saying “we fell in love with her string quartet”.
Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Quartet for Strings no 6 in F minor, Op. 80 by Felix Mendelssohn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Quatuor Ebène
Period: Romantic
Written: 1847; Germany
2.
Quartet for Strings no 2 in A minor, Op. 13 by Felix Mendelssohn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Quatuor Ebène
Period: Romantic
Written: 1827; Germany
3.
Quartet for Strings in E flat major by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Quatuor Ebène
Period: Romantic
Sound Samples
String Quartet No. 2 Op.13 in A minor: I Adagio - Allegro vivace
String Quartet No. 2 Op.13 in A minor: II Adagio non lento
String Quartet No. 2 Op.13 in A minor: III Intermezzo : Allegretto con moto
String Quartet No. 2 Op.13 in A minor: IV Presto
String Quartet in E flat major: I Adagio ma non troppo
String Quartet in E flat major: II Allegretto
String Quartet in E flat major: III Romanze
String Quartet in E flat major: IV Allegro molto vivace
String Quartet No. 6 Op.80 in F minor: I Allegro vivace assai
String Quartet No. 6 Op.80 in F minor: II Allegro assai
String Quartet No. 6 Op.80 in F minor: III Adagio
String Quartet No. 6 Op.80 in F minor: IV Finale: Allegro molto
Customer Reviews
Be the first to review this title
Review This Title
