Schwartz & Rochberg: “Variations”
Two major works for string quartet which both present structured, yet “polystylistic” forms- attuned to the modern ear, which is used to hearing “sound bites” — and what Schwartz calls “collage-oriented”. It is rare to find music written with so much emphasis on the listener.
Track Listing
-
Elliott Schwartz:
- Bellagio Variations - Theme (2:2)
- Bellagio Variations - Variation 1 (1:11)
- Bellagio Variations - Variation 2 (1:52)
- Bellagio Variations - Variation 3 (1:07)
- Bellagio Variations - Variation 4 (2:08)
- Bellagio Variations - Variation 5 (1:37)
- Bellagio Variations - variation 6 (1:44)
- Bellagio Variations - Variation 7 (2:13)
- Bellagio Variations - Variation 8 (5:51) George Rochberg:
- String Quartet no. 3 - I. Introduction: fantasia (6:01)
- String Quartet no. 3 - II. First March (2:59)
- String Quartet no. 3 - III. Section 3 (14:32)
- String Quartet no. 3 - IV. Second March (4:16)
- String Quartet no. 3 - V. Finale (15:29)
Reviews
“George Rochberg’s Third Quartet from 1972 is a masterpiece that rejects serial modernism, going beyond quotation in a revival of the styles of Mahler and Beethoven. The Quartet is no postmodern pastiche either… powerful advocacy from The Kreutzer Quartet.
” —Andy Hamilton
“The members of the Kreutzer Quartet handle [the challenges of the Schwartz] with breathtaking sensitivity. In the Kreutzer’s hands the Bellagio Variations receive a wonderfully nuanced performance, by turns (and sometimes all at once) taut, luxurious, witty and ferocious, entirely befitting the wilfully disorienting, dream-like nature of the music.
” —Tom Myron
“George Rochberg’s String Quartet no. 3 is one of the great essays in this medium of the latter half of the 20th century. How wonderful to hear the Kreutzer Quartet perform this influential work. Schwartz [in the Variations] twists all the knobs, from spiky to sentimental, to keep the listener engaged throughout. This is a keeper album.
” —Mark Alburger
