CD1FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR (1823) Benyounes QuartetSTRING QUARTET NO.2 IN A MINOR OP.13 (1827) Sacconi QuartetFRAGE (IST ES WAHR?) OP.9 NO.1 Sophie Bevan & Julian Milford

CD2STRING QUARTET NO.1 IN E FLAT MAJOR OP.12 (1829) Idomeneo Quartet STRING QUARTET NO.3 IN D MAJOR OP.44 NO.1 (1838) Navarra QuartetSTRING QUARTET NO.4 IN E MINOR OP.44 NO.2 (1837) Castalian Quartet

CD3STRING QUARTET NO.5 IN E FLAT MAJOR OP.44 NO.3 (1838) Piatti QuartetSTRING QUARTET NO.6 IN F MINOR OP.80 (1847) Badke Quartet

CD4FOUR PIECES FOR STRING QUARTET OP.81 Artea QuartetTWELVE FUGUES FOR STRING QUARTET (1821) Wu QuartetFANNY MENDELSSOHN HENSEL (1805-1847)STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR (1834) Cavaleri Quartet

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Complete Mendelssohn works for string quartet, including all seven of Felix’s string quartets,Four Pieces for String Quartet Op.81, Twelve Fugues for String Quartet and his tender lovesong Frage, Op.9/1, which inspired his Op.13 quartet; plus Fanny Mendelssohn’s StringQuartet

MENDELSSOHN: COMPLETE WORKS FOR STRING QUARTET

Benyounes Quartet Idomeneo Quartet Sacconi Quartet Navarra Quartet

Castalian Quartet Piatti Quartet Badke Quartet Artea QuartetWu Quartet

Cavaleri QuartetSophie BevanJulian Milford

CD4

Felix Mendelssohn, for some strange reason, doesn’t get the ‘front row’ attention as some ofhis peers and forebears do. We might start with his ‘Songs without Words’, progress to‘Fingal’s Cave’, ‘Elijah’ and some of his songs, before eventually discovering the gold at theend of the rainbow, his chamber works! With the Champs Hill mission of enlightening andhelping young musicians, we set ourselves the task of recording all his string quartets, eachbeing performed by a different young ensemble. The result has been exciting as youngmusicians have come to know these superb works, and shed new light on them for us, andthe recording project inevitably spread to include the two wonderful Piano Trios, and acomplete recording of both his and Fanny Mendelssohn’s songs masterminded by MalcolmMartineau with a host of young singers. In addition to recording the quartet works of bothFelix and Fanny Mendelssohn, each group featured in this set has also had the opportunity tospend time at Champs Hill recording any other repertoire they wished for them to use as theywish – a showcase for concert promoters, for their websites or perhaps towards a CD release.

We are delighted to have brought these works to the fore, and we hope to have helped thesewonderful players through this project. We are equally delighted to have shared in theenjoyment as these works were added to the repertoire of up-and-coming musicians, andbelieve that listeners will share in this experience as these happy and optimisticperformances become available to you.

Enjoy!

David and Mary Bowerman

FOREWORD

CD4FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY

FOUR PIECES FOR STRING QUARTET OP.811 Andante in E major2 Scherzo in A minor3 Capriccio in E minor4 Fugue in E flat major

Artea QuartetProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Dave RowellRecorded on 11th-12th July 2013

TWELVE FUGUES FOR STRING QUARTET (1821)5 Fugue in D6 Fugue in C7 Fugue in D8 Fugue in D9 Fugue in C

10 Fugue in D

Wu QuartetProduced by Matthew BennettEngineered by Will BrownRecorded on 19th-20th January 2014

FANNY MENDELSSOHN HENSEL (1805-1847)STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR (1834)

17 Adagio ma non troppo18 Allegretto19 Romanze20 Allegro molto vivace

Cavaleri String QuartetProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Dave RowellRecorded on 28th-29th September 2013

CD3FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY

STRING QUARTET NO.5 IN E FLAT MAJOR OP.44 NO.3 (1838)

1 Allegro vivace2 Scherzo: Assai leggiero vivace3 Adagio non troppo4 Molto allegro con fuoco

Piatti QuartetProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Andrew Mellor, assisted by Claire HayRecorded on 29th-30th May 2012

STRING QUARTET NO.6 IN F MINOR OP.80 (1847)5 Allegro vivace assai6 Allegro assai7 Adagio8 Finale: Allegro molto

Badke QuartetProduced by Alexander Van Ingen Engineered and Edited by Dave RowellRecorded on 10th-11th November 2011

11 Fugue in C12 Fugue in E flat13 Fugue in G14 Fugue in F15 Fugue in A16 Fugue in C

CD1FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)

STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR (1823)1 Allegro moderato2 Adagio non troppo3 Menuetto & Trio4 Fuga

Benyounes QuartetProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Will BrownRecorded on 21th-22th January 2014

STRING QUARTET NO.2 IN A MINOR OP.13 (1827)

5 Adagio – Allegro vivace6 Adagio non lento7 Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto8 Presto – Adagio non lento

Sacconi QuartetProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Will BrownRecorded on 28th-29th June 2012

9 FRAGE (IST ES WAHR?) OP.9 NO.1poem by Johann Gustav Droyson

Sophie Bevan & Julian MilfordProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Dave RowellRecorded on 6th October 2012

CD2FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY

STRING QUARTET NO.1 IN E FLAT MAJOR OP.12 (1829)

1 Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante2 Canzonetta: Allegretto in G minor3 Andante espressivo4 Molto allegro e vivace

Idomeneo Quartet Produced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Richard Sutcliffe, assisted by Claire HayRecorded on 24th-25th April 2012

STRING QUARTET NO.3 IN D MAJOR OP.44 NO.1 (1838)

5 Molto allegro vivace6 Menuetto: Un poco Allegretto7 Andante espressivo ma con moto8 Presto con brio

Navarra QuartetProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Andrew MellorRecorded on 3rd-4th December 2012

STRING QUARTET NO.4 IN E MINOR OP.44 NO.2 (1837)

9 Allegro assai appassionato10 Scherzo: Allegro di molto11 Andante12 Presto agitato

Castalian QuartetProduced and Edited by Matthew BennettEngineered by Richard Sutcliffe, assisted by Claire HayRecorded on 17th-18th May 2012

TRACK LISTING

Mastered by Dave RowellAll tracks recorded in the Music Room, Champs Hill, West Sussex, UKCover picture ‘Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn German’ from Lebrecht Music & ArtsExecutive Producer for Champs Hill Records: Alexander Van IngenLabel Manager for Champs Hill Records: John Dickinson

The Allegro moderato first movement is a very regular sonata form with two conventionallypatterned themes that are led through the usual processes of exposition, development andrecapitulation. Mendelssohn indulges in no harmonic adventures or distant modulations,but the music has abundant confidence and vitality. The ensuing slow movement – this isthe only Mendelssohn quartet in which the slow movement comes second and the scherzothird, in the four-movement scheme – is marked Adagio non troppo and is appropriatelylyrical and expressive, with some discreet chromaticism. Mendelssohn follows this with aMinuet in practically 18th-century style, but vivacious and certainly imbued with the spiritof the dance. For finale, he shows off his contrapuntal learning by writing a double fugue,perhaps inspired by the fugal movements of some of Haydn’s early quartets. A busy,bustling movement, this can sound hectic if pressed too hard, but at the right tempo is avery enjoyable experience for a group of four players, each of whom is given an equalvoice in the discourse.

Following this youthful (but not juvenile) work, Mendelssohn’s principal bouts of quartetcomposition spanned a period of 20 years, 1827–47, in three brief episodes about tenyears apart. They began with the first quartet that he acknowledged – String Quartet in Aminor, Op.13 – generally called Quartet No. 2 even though it was written two years earlierthan his (second) E flat Quartet, which was published slightly before it as Op.12.Composed in 1827 before he turned 18, this remarkable A minor Quartet was first heard ata concert in the Mendelssohn home in Berlin and published three years later.

Written in the year of Beethoven’s death, it shows that Mendelssohn knew and admiredBeethoven’s late string quartets (and also his piano sonatas), and yet – unlike most of hiscontemporaries, or indeed the next few generations – he was not so reverent as tosubordinate his own ideas to this elder genius. The brilliant A minor Quartet innovates inthe formal sphere, with a chain of references between the various movements. The entiredesign is begun and rounded off by a slow introduction in A major which puts everythingelse, so to speak, in quotation-marks and also returns within the body of the quartet. It

It is often said that if Mozart and Mendelssohn had both died at the age of 20,Mendelssohn would have been accounted by far the greater composer – for though both ofthem were prodigies who wrote copious music from an early age, Mendelssohn’s earlyworks surpass Mozart’s in both substance and originality. It was only later that Mozart’sgenius came to full fruition, while in the view of many critics Mendelssohn neversurpassed his teenaged achievements in works like the String Octet or the incidental musicto A Midsummer Night’s Dream. From his earliest years he seemed to have a natural affinityfor string instruments, as is well illustrated by the twelve-and-a-bit Sinfonias for stringorchestra he wrote between the ages of 12 and 14 (student works half-way betweenBaroque symphonies and string quartets writ large) and the aforementioned String Octet,written at age 16, essentially conceived as a symphony-like double string quartet.

Mendelssohn’s compositions for string quartet proper are probably less familiar these daysthan they were in the 19th century, when they were influential models, almost universallyadmired for their deft handling of structure, their amazingly assured writing for strings,and their fine, aristocratic style. These are qualities that can never really go out offashion, but they deserve to be discovered afresh by each new generation of listeners.

In 1821, aged 12, Mendelssohn penned a set of 12 Fugues for String Quartet, more ascontrapuntal studies than serious attempts at the genre. In one sense the String Quartet inE flat, Op. posth. that he wrote two years later was also a ‘student exercise’, but – thoughit remained unpublished in his lifetime and was only printed in 1879 – it is very muchmore than a slavish application of a compositional formula learned by rote. It may not bea work of great profundity, and even for its time it is stylistically conservative, but it hascharm, nicely proportioned forms and, above all, a native mastery of the quartet mediumthat had not been seen since the young Mozart. The undue prominence accorded to thefirst violin is more reminiscent of Haydn, or perhaps the quartet style then beingcultivated in France; but there is no doubt about the sheer effectiveness of Mendelssohn’squartet writing.

MENDELSSOHN STRING QUARTETS

the second movement. This in its turn leads into a reprise of the entire first-movementintroduction, which is further developed so that the quartet ends in A major and its fourmovements are, so to speak, ‘book-ended’ between two occurrences of the same music.

Despite its lower opus number, the String Quartet in E flat major, Op.12 was composed twoyears later, in 1829: the opus numbers here merely reflect the order of publication, whichoccurred before the end of the year. Mendelssohn began it in Berlin but completed it inLondon on 14 September, during the first of what would prove to be many visits toBritain. During his journey to Scotland he continued it at Coed Du, the estate of theTaylor family, business acquaintances of Mendelssohn's father. It was altogether anextremely creative period: on 10 September Mendelssohn wrote to his sisters Fanny andRebecca, ‘My quartet is now in the middle of the last movement, and I think it will becompleted in a few days’, before going on to detail his plans for his Reformation andScotch symphonies, and the Hebrides Overture. He dedicated the quartet to Betty Pistor, aBerlin neighbour, whose father was the inventor and constructor of astronomicalinstruments, Carl Philipp Heinrich Pistor.

In general, this is a more lyrical work than the A minor Quartet, and in a more orthodoxfour-movement form; yet the influence of Beethoven is still palpable, and as in theprevious quartet Mendelssohn employs the cyclic recurrence of themes, perhaps in aneven more striking way. The first movement’s slow introduction, Adagio non troppo,recalls that of Beethoven’s Quartet in E flat, Op.74 (the Harp Quartet), but the ensuingAllegro non tardante is more typical of Mendelssohn himself, adapting song-like materialto a sonata-form design. Perhaps influenced by the example of Beethoven’s firstRasumovsky Quartet, Mendelssohn dispenses with a repeat of the exposition, but startsthe development with a repeat of the opening theme in the tonic E flat, as if he wereactually beginning an exposition repeat. He also incorporates a new theme into thedevelopment, which later appears in the coda. At the outset of the recapitulation,Mendelssohn underscores the first theme with a strong E flat in the cello: paradoxically,however, this firm presentation of the main theme enters pianissimo and is not

establishes a kind of Leitmotif: a three-chord figure from one of Mendelssohn’s early love-songs: Frage (Question), written in June 1827 and probably inspired by a youthful passionfor the singer Betty Pistor, who would become the secret dedicatee of his next quartet,Op.12. Mendelssohn himself probably wrote the words, and the figure was originally set tothe words ‘Ist es wahr?’ (Is it true?). This seems in one sense a remarkable reminiscence ofthe ‘Muss es sein?’ motto of the finale of Beethoven’s F major Quartet, Op.135, composedonly a few months before Mendelssohn’s quartet but not performed until 1828.Mendelssohn’s interest in such ‘cyclic’ devices may have been sparked by his boyhoodteacher Ludwig Berger, who used them in his own music. The song-figure occurs threetimes at the end of the introduction, and its characteristic dotted rhythm is carried overinto the main theme of the ensuing Allegro vivace, which confirms A minor forMendelssohn as a rather hectic, anxious key. The expression of this movement is hard-pressed and forceful, almost throughout.

The slow movement, in F major, begins as a Romantic Adagio, which also refers back to theslow introduction of the entire quartet. It develops, however, as a moderately paced fugue,probably modelled on the fugue in the slow movement of Beethoven’s F minor quartet,Op.95. This is deliberate and searching in nature, of great polyphonic skill and a sinewy,wide-spaced texture. There follows, not a scherzo (a form for which Mendelssohn wasalready famous) but an Intermezzo in the character of a minuet-like serenade, the firstviolin’s song-like theme (reminiscent of the ‘Ist es wahr?’ motif) spun over a pizzicatoaccompaniment. A scurrying trio is referred to again in the movement’s furtive coda.

The finale seems to be closely modelled on that of Beethoven’s A minor Quartet, Op.132. Itbegins in tragic vein, with a passionate violin recitative over string tremolandi, before theloping and troubled motion of the movement proper begins. Both forceful and full ofpathos, this too has a fugal passage for development (based on an inversion of the secondmovement’s fugue theme) and works up to a return of the opening violin recitative. Itbuilds to what seems a decisive climax, but is cut short; whereupon a further plangent,fantasia-like solo from the first violin introduces a reminiscence of the fugue theme from

composer Ferdinand David (who led that performance) that he believed audiences wouldcherish it because of its ‘unusual passion’. In fact the Molto allegro vivace first movementopens with a soaring first violin melody, accompanied by quietly simmering second violinand viola and a rhythmically impulsive cello, that is entirely full-blooded in orientation.The second theme, however, is more subdued: it appears in the darker region of F sharpminor and possesses a grave chorale-like character. Out of the contrast between these twovery different ideas Mendelssohn weaves an often thrilling movement.

The second movement flirts with archaism, being a ‘Menuetto’ rather than a scherzo assuch. Marked Un poco allegretto, this is civilized, genteel music; (some twirling first violineighth notes, taken up almost half-heartedly by the other instruments, however, save themusic from collapsing from the weight of too many good manners). The ensuing Andanteespressivo ma con moto in B minor has a beautifully transparent texture, conjured out ofpizzicati from the viola and cello, with a continuous light staccato in semiquavers from thesecond violin, and an elegant first violin melody that now and then joins the second violinin weaving its staccato patterns. The Presto con brio finale has something of the characterof a Baroque gigue, and the bravura that Mendelssohn requires of the first violin heresuggests he was already thinking of the Violin Concerto he would write for Ferdinand Davidin 1844.

Even before the premiere of the D major Quartet, on 28 October 1937, Ferdinand David andhis quartet had given the first performance of String Quartet No.4 in E minor, Op.44 No.2.This was actually the first member of the Op.44 trilogy to be completed, and it is possiblythe most admired of all Mendelssohn’s quartets. In strong contrast to the D major work,this music is tense and sometimes feverish in character. At the outset of the firstmovement, Allegro assai appassionato, the urgent syncopations of the accompaniment andthe wide arpeggiated arch of the principal theme are unmistakably Mendelssohnianinspirations and apparently irreconcilable forces until unanimity is achieved with livelymusic that retreats to a pianissimo dynamic before introducing the warmly lyrical secondsubject in G major. The movement unfolds as a perfect piece of sonata architecture infused

introduced by a cadence from the dominant, making it almost an anticlimax rather thanthe dramatic event that sonata recapitulations are conventionally expected to provide.

The second movement is not a scherzo but a canzonetta in G minor, an amiable movementwhose main theme would be virtually reproduced by Schumann a few years later in hisSpring Symphony. An Andante espressivo in B flat (relative major of G minor, anddominant of E flat) proves to be a brief movement, with two aggressive, recitative-likepassages marked con fuoco, that leads without a break into the lively finale, much ofwhich is in G minor. Here the new theme that appeared in the development section of thefirst movement reappears, first in the middle of the finale and finally the coda, whichremarkably contains a near-complete reprise of the coda of the first movement, with thatmovement’s first subject also putting in a last appearance. Ending the first and lastmovements of a multi-movement work with the same music was not entirely a new ideafor Mendelssohn, for he had used the same technique in his Piano Sonata in E major,Op.6, of 1826.

The three string quartets that comprise Mendelssohn’s Op.44 were composed in 1837-38.He began them shortly after his marriage to Cecile Jeanrenaud, while the couple were ontheir honeymoon in Freiburg. As he wrote to his sister Fanny, ‘I have almost finished astring quartet, and shall soon begin another. I am in the right vein for working just now…’. When completed, and after revising all three quartets for publication in 1839, hededicated the opus to the Crown Prince of Sweden. In issuing these mature quartets as agroup of three, Mendelssohn probably had in mind the precedent of Beethoven’s three‘Rasumovsky’ quartets; and his trilogy in turn would become a model for Schumann’s threequartets Op.41 of 1842. All three works are cast in four movements, with the scherzofalling second and the slow movement third; and unlike Opp. 12 and 13, none of them isprefaced with a slow introduction, each starting off in medias res.

The String Quartet No.3 in D major, Op.44 No.1 was in fact the last of the group to becompleted, on 24 July 1838, and was first performed in February 1839. It seems to havebeen the composer’s favourite of the three, and he wrote to his friend the violinist-

song-like main melody. By contrast, the finale, which he marks Molto allegro con fuoco, livesup to that rather over-the-top indication in music of irresistible dash and verve.

On 12 May 1847 Mendelssohn, whose health was already delicate, collapsed in shock,unconscious, at hearing of the death of his sister Fanny. He never entirely recovered, andconfessed that he ‘could not think of work, or even music, without feeling the most intenseemptiness and barrenness in the mind and heart’. The following month he travelled toInterlaken in Switzerland. Here he seemed to rally and, by the time of his return to Leipzigin July, he had composed some portions of both an oratorio and an opera, plus an entirestring quartet and two movements of another. The complete work, String Quartet No.6 in Fminor, Op.80, was the first he had written in nine years and incomparably the mostimportant of these productions. It was destined to be the last work he finished; inSeptember he suffered another collapse and wrote nothing more before his death on 4November. The quartet was not published until three years later. Despite being the lastcompleted utterance of someone who was by any standard a major quartet composer, it hasremained sadly neglected.

This dark-hued, emotionally stressed work is generally accepted to be Mendelssohn’sresponse to the loss of his beloved sister. Though still mediated by his sure sense of post-classical form, the burden of subjective emotion in this quartet is unprecedented in hismusic. In many ways its sense of tragedy and sustained anguish are the antithesis of whatwe imagine (and Mendelssohn’s contemporaries imagined) to be his characteristic tone andgenius. Commentators often remark that it is clearly influenced by Beethoven’s StringQuartet Op.95, also in F minor, and that it fails to approach the same standard. Theinfluence is highly probable, but Mendelssohn was not attempting to emulate Beethoven,rather to find his own way to create a convincingly tragic quartet – one of more personalimmediacy – in that dark, disturbing key, which seems to have obsessed him with itscapacity for urgency and affright. Three of the four movements are in F minor; theexception is the Adagio in A flat, F minor’s relative major. The result is a work perhaps more

by Mendelssohn’s characteristic mastery of motion. The way in which he seamlessly fusesthe end of the development with the beginning of the recapitulation is breathtaking.

The second movement – an Allegro di molto in E major – this time is a true scherzo of thelight, scintillating gossamer type that Mendelssohn most favoured, propelled throughout bya four-semiquaver figure that assumes great importance as the movement proceeds. It isfollowed by an exquisite G major Andante seemingly modelled on the composer’s popularSongs without Words, led off by the first violin but with the melody later given to thecello. Mendelssohn was apparently aware of the risk of sentimentality invading theinterpretation of this movement, for he prefaces it with the stern injunction that ‘themovement must by no means be played draggingly’. The finale, a headlong, highly athleticPresto agitato, is a movement of scintillating virtuosity that sometimes seems like anintensification of the scherzo’s music in more abandoned terms, driving the Quartet to atriumphant and decisive resolution.

String Quartet No.5 in E flat Major, Op.44 No.3 – Mendelssohn’s third quartet in that key –was composed in the winter of 1837–38 and completed on 6 February of the latter year;the honour of the first performance again fell to Ferdinand David and his quartet, on 3April. Of the three Op.44 quartets, this one is perhaps the richest in texture. In the Allegrovivace first movement the players almost immediately engage in conversation over theinitial four-note motif, passing it from instrument to instrument in imitation or insequence as the music unfolds. This first idea is contrasted against sturdy dotted-rhythmfigures to create a movement of dynamic action, sometimes almost tumultuous in itsbravura activity.

Even by Mendelssohn’s standards the Assai leggiero vivace scherzo, in G minor, is a notablyfleet-footed example of its genre. Its continual 6/8 quaver motion is shared between thefour instruments for most of its length, only accumulating to a resonant climax at the end.The Adagio non troppo slow movement, in A flat, shows Mendelssohn’s power of evokingdiscreet pathos though the chromatic inflections that prepare each appearance of the

nicely contrasted, while confirming his superb command of the string-quartet medium. Inthe published order (which is not always the order in which quartets choose to performthem) they begin with the two pieces apparently intended as the middle two movements ofthe unfinished quartet of 1847. These are passionate, emotionally complex utterances.Piece 1 is cast as an Andante in E major which opens in a reflective, self-questioning moodwith the principal theme on solo viola; there are five variations, encompassing ascherzando quickening of pace and a dramatic turn to E minor before the enigmatic ending.Piece 2, a Scherzo in A minor, begins in rather subdued style but soon turns brilliant andvirtuosic. Though certainly not conceived as a finale, it makes a suitably scintillatingconclusion to this set of disparate pieces. It is also the very last example of that delightfulmusical phenomenon, the ‘Mendelssohn scherzo’, of which the most famous example is thescherzo from his music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The group of pieces continues with a Fugue in E flat major, composed when Mendelssohnwas 18. Even then he was at the height of his powers, and in its calm, even flow itdemonstrates his contrapuntal mastery and his natural aptitude as a quartet composer. Thelast piece is a Capriccio in E minor from 1843 which exemplifies Mendelssohn’s gift forbalance among the voices and instrumental colouring that adds lustre and memorabilityeven to fleeting musical ideas. It consists of an Andante introduction followed by anotherfugue, based on a four-note motif derived from the introduction’s principal theme.

Mendelssohn intended the F minor Quartet as a kind of instrumental requiem for his eldersister Fanny. Though she published little in her lifetime, Fanny was herself a prolific andwithout any doubt a highly gifted composer. Her String Quartet in E flat, her only venture inthe genre, dates from 1834 and was written for private performance at her Berlin salon.Private rather than public performance allowed her to experiment with form in a way thatFelix perhaps never could. From its intense, throbbing introduction to the fantasia-like firstmovement, this is clearly a work of serious import, and indeed despite the nominal tonalityit clings to the minor mode until the comparatively carefree finale.

Malcolm MacDonald

in the tradition of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden and Brahms’s C minor Quartet ofOp.51.

The first movement is a compact sonata-form that sets in furiously with sinister tremolandiand sforzati and seldom relaxes its pace. The first subject is driven and harried, the secondslightly more relaxed and lyrical, but only slightly, and it is continually drawn into thefeverish activity. The writing throughout the quartet is very taxing; even Mendelssohn’suse of the instruments’ range often seems to embody distress, the first violin crying highand inconsolably above the fierce rhythms of the other three. Rather than finding anycomforting resolution, in the coda the tempo quickens to Presto and the movement endsin a wild, heart-broken burst of virtuoso playing.

The second movement is perhaps the most original of the four, and again the antithesis ofthe lightly tripping ‘fairy’ scherzos for which Mendelssohn was famous. The music seemsbound on a wheel or treadmill, the scherzo theme coming round with a kind of dreadcircularity. Even the quieter trio, with its wary, pensive tread, brings no relief. The scherzoreturns; it seems like the Trio is also going to return, but after a few bars it gutters outinto silence. The ensuing Adagio is another quartet slow movement that is sometimeslikened to a ‘Song Without Words’, and indeed the main melody is very vocal in character,but despite the major key there is no real lightening of the emotional burden: the music’sintense lyricism suggests a measure of calm but is infused with pain. The finale returns usto F minor, and the grip of obsessive, hurrying rhythms and sudden outbursts of fury. Ithas a second subject of almost Schubertian melodic pathos, which never really finds timeto expand before the forceful rhythms of the principal subject return. The first violinwriting rises to an almost concerto-like virtuosity in the coda, which hurries the quartet toits end in a mood of grim resolution.

The other two quartet movements that Mendelssohn had composed at Interlakenlanguished until 1850, when they were published along with two much earlier movementsas Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81. Clearly Mendelssohn had not planned these fouritems as a collection, and they manifest no overall unity; on the other hand they are

BENYOUNES QUARTET Zara Benyounes violin 1 Emily Holland violin 2Tetsuumi Nagata viola Kim Vaughan cello

Winners of the 2012 1st International Sándor Végh String Quartet Competition in Budapest, plusfour special prizes including Best Interpretation of a Bartok Quartet; the Benyounes Quartet isgaining a reputation as one of the most engaging, dynamic and successful young quartets to haveemerged from the UK in recent years.

Formed in 2007 at the Royal Northern College of Music, the Benyounes Quartet went on to winthe Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Julius Isserlis Scholarship, funding their studies withProfessor Gábor Takács-Nagy at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève. Here they won theconservatoire’s most esteemed Prix d’Excellence.

The quartet held the Richard Carne Junior Fellowship at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music andDance for two years and has held a residency at Bangor University. As Park Lane Group YoungArtists, the quartet have given debut recitals at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall.

Notable performances include concerts at St-Martin-in-the-Fields, LSO St Luke’s, Festival Quatuorsà Bordeaux, Canterbury Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Bellerive Festival, Gstaad NewYear Festival, North Norfolk Festival, Mondsee Festival and Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. In 2010,they performed a new collaborative work by young British composer Charlotte Bray in VerbierFestival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Aldeburgh Festival. The quartet has studied with GáborTakács-Nagy, Eberhard Feltz, Andras Keller and Quatuor Ebène, and attended IMS Prussia Cove andthe Britten-Pears International Academy of String Quartets.

The quartet continues to broaden its repertoire by initiating collaborative chamber music andcross-arts projects, and has founded Quercus Ensemble, a mixed chamber music group based inNorthern Ireland. The quartet works regularly with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and has collaboratedwith award-winning jazz group Empirical, performing in the London Jazz Festival at the QueenElizabeth Hall and appearing on their album, Tabula Rasa.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)

STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR (1823)1 Allegro moderato2 Adagio non troppo3 Menuetto & Trio4 Fuga

CD1

photo: Ludivine Kacou

SACONNI QUARTET Ben Hancox violin 1 Hannah Dawson violin 2Robin Ashwell viola Cara Berridge cello

‘A beautiful blend of sound … highly engaging’ The Times‘A quartet of genuine substance’ The Daily Telegraph‘The festival sensation, the young Sacconi Quartet completely bowled over a packed audience.The chemistry between these four young players is tangible and magical.’ The Scotsman‘An exceptional ensemble … a unanimous sense of musical breath and a meticulous attention to detail.’Musical Opinion‘Great power and sweetness … intimate closeness.’ The Spectator‘Enviable technical prowess’ The Strad

The Sacconi Quartet is recognised for its unanimous and compelling ensemble, performing withstyle and commitment and consistently communicating with a fresh and imaginative approach.Formed in 2001, its four founder members continue to demonstrate a shared passion for stringquartet repertoire, infectiously reaching out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm. Overthe past decade they have enjoyed a highly successful international career, performing regularlythroughout Europe, at London’s major venues, in recordings and on radio broadcasts. The Sacconiis Quartet in Association at the Royal College of Music and Quartet in Residence at the Bristol OldVic Theatre.

The Sacconi won First Prize at the Trondheim International String Quartet Competition and SecondPrize, the Sidney Griller Award and the Esterhazy Prize at the 2006 London International StringQuartet Competition. They also won the Kurtág Prize at the 2005 Bordeaux International StringQuartet Competition and First Prize in the Royal Over-Seas League Chamber Music Competition. In2006 they were also selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT), awarded anAngel Award by The Herald newspaper for outstanding performances in the Edinburgh Festival andnominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.

STRING QUARTET NO.2 IN A MINOR OP.13 (1827)5 Adagio – Allegro vivace6 Adagio non lento7 Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto8 Presto – Adagio non lento

photo: Clive Barda

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SOPHIE BEVAN soprano

Soprano Sophie Bevan graduated from the Benjamin Britten International Opera School where she wasawarded the Queen Mother Rose Bowl Award.

Conductors she works with include Sir Antonio Pappano, Daniel Harding, Harry Christophers, EdwardGardner, Laurence Cummings, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Neville Marriner and Sir Charles Mackerras.

Her operatic roles for English National Opera include Xenia (Boris Godunov), Despina (Cosí fan tutte),soprano solos (Messiah), Polissena (Radamisto), Yum Yum (Mikado), Telair in Rameau’s Castor andPollux and her first Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier). For Garsington Opera she has performed Pamina,Donna Elvira and her first Susanna and for Welsh National Opera she has sung the title role in TheCunning Little Vixen. For the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden she has appeared as Waldvogel(Siegfried) and Pamina.

Sophie was the recipient of the 2010 Critics’ Circle award for Exceptional Young Talent. She wasnominated for the 2012 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and was the recipient of The TimesBreakthrough Award at the 2012 South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

JULIAN MILFORD piano

An English graduate of Oxford University, Julian Milford subsequently studied piano and pianoaccompaniment at the Curtis Institute and the Guildhall.

He works as an accompanist and chamber musician with some of Britain’s finest instrumentalists andsingers, performing at major chamber music venues across Britain and Europe.

In addition to his concerts with Emily Pailthorpe and Conchord, Julian’s concerts have includedrecitals with baritones Sir Thomas Allen and Christopher Maltman, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, andcellist Han-Na Chang in venues including the Frick Collection in New York, the Philharmonie inCologne and the Herkulessaal in Munich, as well as the City of London and Cheltenham festivals.

Julian has also recorded extensively for major independent recording labels including Chandos,Hyperion, ASV and Black Box. He has made a number of recordings with the distinguished violinistLydia Mordkovitch for Carlton Classics and Chandos. His debut solo recording comprising works byWilliam Alwyn (Chandos) was described as ‘impeccably stylish’ by BBC Music Magazine.

9 FRAGE (IST ES WAHR?) OP.9 NO.1poem by Johann Gustav Droyson

photo: Sussie Ahlburg

photo: Patrick Allen

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IDOMENEO QUARTET Mark Derudder violin 1 Viktor Stenhjem violin 2Miguel Angel Rodriguez viola Pau Codina Masferrer cello

Formed in 2009, the Idomeneo Quartet currently holds the Chamber Music Fellowship at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama. Already regarded as one of the most exciting youngquartets on the music scene, the Idomeneos are studying under the tutelage of the VoglerQuartet in Stuttgart, Rainer Schmidt in Basel and Alasdair Tait in London.

The Idomeneo Quartet have already held recitals in numerous concert venues all over Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Austria, and Belgium) and extensively in the UK; thisincluded concerts in the Barbican and Festival Hall in London.

At the 54th Jeunesse Musicale course in Weikersheim, Germany (with Heime Muller and the VoglerQuartet) they were awarded the prize of ‘the most convincing newcomer ensemble’ by the Friendsof the Jeunesse Musicale in Germany; their final concert was broadcast live on German radio tocritical acclaim. The Quartet also won the Tunnell Trust Award, with a concert tour of Scotlandbeing part of the award. More recently, they have been selected as young artists for the ParkLane Group.

The Idomeneo Quartet have been privileged to receive masterclasses from, amongst others,Bernard Greenhouse, Gary Hoffmann, the Belcea Quartet and Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet).They performed at the White Crow Music Festival in the Netherlands.

Future commitments include concerts at festivals such as the King’s Lynn Festival andHeidelberger Frühling Internationales Festival in Germany where they will perform Schoenberg'sVerklärte Nacht with members of the Alban Berg Quartet. During the summer they will be Quartetin Residence at the Sainte-Mère Festival in France and they have been booked for a concert tourof Brazil later in the year.

The Idomeneo Quartet is looking forward to its debuts at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Purcell Roomand the Wigmore Hall, courtesy of the Park Lane Group.

STRING QUARTET NO.1 IN E FLAT MAJOR OP.12 (1829)1 Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante2 Canzonetta: Allegretto in G minor3 Andante espressivo4 Molto allegro e vivace

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photo: Ian Gilchrist

NAVARRA QUARTET Magnus Johnston violin 1 Marije Ploemacher violin 2Simone van der Giessen viola Brian O’Kane cello

Since its formation in 2002, the Navarra Quartet has built an international reputation as one ofthe most dynamic and poetic string quartets of today. Selected for representation by the YoungClassical Artists Trust (YCAT) from 2006 to 2010, they have been awarded the MIDEM ClassiqueYoung Artist Award, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a Musica Viva tour and prizes at theBanff, Melbourne and Florence International String Quartet Competitions.

The Navarra Quartet has appeared at major venues throughout the world including the WigmoreHall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus, and internationalfestivals such as Bath, Grachten, Sandviken, Schwetzinger, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,Huntingdon (Australia), Aix-en-Provence, Bellerive and the BBC Proms. Further afield they havegiven concerts in Russia, the USA and the Middle East and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3,RAI 3 (Italy), Radio 4 (Holland), SWR (Germany), Radio Luxembourg and ABC Classic FM(Australia). The Quartet has collaborated with artists such as Li-Wei, Guy Johnston, MarkPadmore, Allan Clayton, Francesco Piemontesi, John O’Conor, Jack Liebeck, Simone Young and theNational Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

Highly acclaimed recordings include Haydn’s The Seven Last Words for Altara Records and a disc ofPeteris Vasks’ first three String Quartets for Challenge Records, which they recorded whilstworking closely with the composer himself. The recording was described by critics as ‘stunning’,‘sensational’ and ‘compelling’, and was nominated for the prestigious German SchallplattenkritikAward. In 2013, the Navarra Quartet recorded a disc for NMC Records featuring the music ofJoseph Phibbs.

STRING QUARTET NO.3 IN D MAJOR OP.44 NO.1 (1838)5 Molto allegro vivace6 Menuetto: Un poco Allegretto7 Andante espressivo ma con moto8 Presto con brio

photo: Sussie Ahlburg

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CASTALIAN QUARTET Sadie Fields violin 1 Daniel Roberts violin 2Charlotte Bonneton viola Rebecca Hermann cello

Winner of the 2011 Royal Overseas League Elias Fawcett Award for an outstanding chamberensemble, the Castalian String Quartet is rapidly gaining a reputation at festivals and concerthalls in the UK and abroad for its ‘phenomenal impact on audiences’.

As holder of awards from the Countess of Munster Trust, the Tunnel Trust, the RoyalPhilharmonic Society, Lake District Summer Music, St. Peter's Eaton Square and the KirckmanConcert Society, the quartet performs throughout the UK. Last season saw its debut recital atthe Wigmore Hall, as well as appearances at the Purcell Room and Kings Place, where theyperformed alongside the Chilingirian Quartet. The Castalian Quartet was also invited torepresent the UK in a British Council Tour of China, which included performances, masterclassesand interviews for Chinese Television. It has also performed in Sweden, France and Italy.

In 2012 the quartet gave its debut broadcasts on the German radio station NDR and on BBCRadio 3, from its critically acclaimed Cheltenham Festival recital of music by Giles Swayne,Michael Nyman and Hugh Wood. Its Edinburgh Festival debut at the Royal Overseas LeagueHouse followed soon after and was hailed by the Strad Magazine for its ‘richly Romanticintensity, energy and passion’.

The quartet has worked closely with Thomas Brandis, Levon Chilingirian and Oliver Wille, itsmentor at the Hannover University of Music, Dance and Theatre.

STRING QUARTET NO.4 IN E MINOR OP.44 NO.2 (1837)9 Allegro assai appassionato

10 Scherzo: Allegro di molto11 Andante12 Presto agitato

photo: Sussie Ahlburg

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PIATTI QUARTET Charlotte Scott violin 1 Michael Trainor violin 2David Wigram viola Jessie Ann Richardson cello

Winners of the St-Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competition, Hattori Foundation Awardand the Martin Musical/Philharmonia Scholarship Fund, the Piatti Quartet are fast emerging as oneof the UK’s leading young string quartets.

Previous recipients of the Tunnell Trust Award and selected as Park Lane Group (PLG) Young Artistsin 2010, the Piatti Quartet spent two years as Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellows at the RoyalAcademy of Music. In 2012 The Piatti Quartet were chosen for the Future Classics ‘Classical Tour’supported by the PLG and Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust, which included a concert tour andCD recording, giving audiences around the UK a unique opportunity to see the ‘stars of tomorrow’,and culminating in a Wigmore Hall appearance in April 2012.

Since 2009 they have performed at major venues throughout the UK including the Wigmore Hall,the Purcell Room, Conway Hall, St Georges (Bristol), The Queens Hall (Edinburgh) and havemade appearances live on BBC Radio 3 numerous times. They have enjoyed several very excitingcollaboration projects with Austrian pianist Gottlieb Wallisch, including recording a CD ofMozart Piano concerti on Linn records, and have made debut performances at both the NewburySpring Festival and the Bath International Festival.

STRING QUARTET NO.5 IN E FLAT MAJOR OP.44 NO.3 (1838)1 Allegro vivace2 Scherzo: Assai leggiero vivace3 Adagio non troppo4 Molto allegro con fuoco

photo: Sara Thomas

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BADKE QUARTET Lana Trotovsek violin 1 Emma Parker violin 2Jon Thorne viola Jonathan Byers cello

The Badke Quartet, formed in 2002, is widely recognised as one of Britain’s finest string quartets.The Quartet has received widespread acclaim for its energetic and vibrant performances.

The Quartet has worked with some of the world’s greatest string quartets and studied with GáborTakács-Nagy at IMS Prussia Cove and members of the Alban Berg Quartet in Cologne. From 2005to 2009 the Quartet held the Senior Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the Royal Academyof Music.

The Badke Quartet regularly performs at concert halls and festivals in the UK and abroad,including the Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence and Verbier Festivals, West Cork Chamber Music Festival,London’s Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, and the Musikverein in Vienna.

The Quartet enjoys collaborations and has worked with musicians such as Mark Padmore, SirThomas Allen, John Mark Ainsley, Nicholas Daniel, Simon Crawford-Phillips, Simon Lane andMalcolm Martineau.

No strangers to the airwaves, the Badke Quartet has frequently broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 aswell as on Classic FM, Lyric FM (Ireland), ABC Classic FM (Australia) and for the EuropeanBroadcasting Union. In 2007, the Quartet won 1st prize and audience prize at the 5th MelbourneInternational Chamber Music Competition.

STRING QUARTET NO.6 IN F MINOR OP.80 (1847)5 Allegro vivace assai6 Allegro assai7 Adagio8 Finale: Allegro molto

photo: Tas Kyprianou

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ARTEA QUARTET Thomas Gould violin 1 Rhys Watkins violin 2Benjamin Roskams viola Ashok Klouda cello

The members of the Artea Quartet met whilst studying at the Royal Academy of Music inLondon in 2001. After studies with the Amadeus, Alberni and Wihan quartets they went on toforge a successful career, winning many awards and performing at festivals throughout the UKincluding the BBC Proms, and at venues such as the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room as well aslive broadcasts for BBC Radio 3.

In addition to their obvious love for quartet-playing the members of the Artea Quartet enjoy adiverse range of music-making on an individual level. Thomas Gould is a soloist and leader ofAurora Orchestra and Britten Sinfonia. Rhys Watkins is a member of the first violin section ofthe London Symphony Orchestra and also plays in the virtuoso violin duo ‘Mazeppa’ with hiscolleague from the orchestra, David Worswick. Benjamin Roskams is also an experiencedorchestral musician, having worked extensively with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonicand London Symphony orchestras as well as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, of which he is amember of the first violin section. Ashok Klouda is a member of London International Playersand cello octet Cellophony and is also Co-Founder/Director of the Highgate InternationalChamber Music Festival.

FOUR PIECES FOR STRING QUARTET OP.811 Andante in E major2 Scherzo in A minor3 Capriccio in E minor4 Fugue in E flat major

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photo: Laura Bodo Lajber photo: Shan Cothi photo: Benjamin Harte photo: Veronika Kotkova

WU QUARTET Qian Wu violin 1 Edward Brenton violin 2Matthew Kettle viola Joe Zeitling cello

First-prize winners at the 23rd V.E. Rimbotti International String Quartet Competition in Italy2012, the Wu Quartet has also received the 2011 Artis Quartet prize in Vienna, and 2nd prize andthe Baerenreiter Prize at the 2012 Charles Hennen Concours in Holland. In September 2011 thequartet reached the semi-finals of the Beijing International String Quartet Competition. They aredelighted to recently have been named recipients of the Albert and Eugenie Frost Prize from theRoyal Philharmonic Society. The quartet has also received awards from the Hattori Foundationand the Musicians Benevolent Fund and in 2010 was selected for the Park Lane Group YoungArtists scheme as well as winning the MMSF/Philharmonia Orchestra Ensemble Award.

In 2011 the Wu Quartet gained entry into the European Chamber Music Academy, allowing it theopportunity to study at conservatoires around Europe with some of the world’s finest chambermusicians. In 2013/2014 the quartet continues its participation in ECMA and is now beingmentored personally by its founder, Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet) with whom they workregularly in Germany. In the UK they are fortunate to work closely with Simon Rowland-Jonesand have attended IMS Prussia Cove for which they performed in the Wigmore Hall as part oftheir 40th anniversary celebrations. They have also studied with Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet)and Peter Cropper (Lindsay Quartet).

TWELVE FUGUES FOR STRING QUARTET (1821)5 Fugue in D6 Fugue in C7 Fugue in D8 Fugue in D9 Fugue in C

10 Fugue in D11 Fugue in C12 Fugue in E flat13 Fugue in G14 Fugue in F15 Fugue in A16 Fugue in C

photo: Benjamin Lycett

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CAVALERI QUARTET Martyn Jackson violin 1 Ciaran McCabe violin 2Ann Beilby viola Rowena Calvert cello

Since its formation in 2008, the Cavaleri Quartet has gained a reputation as one of the leadingEuropean string quartets. They won First Prize at the 2012 Hamburg International Chamber MusicCompetition and were awarded additional prizes for their performances of Brahms andMendelssohn. In 2011 they won the ‘Special Prize’ in the Premio Paolo Borciani InternationalString Quartet Competition.

The Cavaleri Quartet first came to prominence in the UK after winning the Royal Over-Seas LeagueEnsemble Competition in 2011, following their Wigmore Hall London debut in 2010 andSouthbank debut at the Purcell Room in 2008 (as Park Lane Group Young Artists). The quartetwere ‘RCM Rising Stars’ 2008 and were also selected for the Countess of Munster Recital Schemeand both the Kirckman Concerts Society and Musicians Benevolent Fund Ensembles awards. Theyare the current Quartet in Residence at Oxford University and Ambassadors for the European StringTeachers’ Association.

Highlights of recent seasons include appearances at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, theSchubertiade in Austria, Auditorio Nacionale (Madrid), Teatro Toniolo (Venice) and RachmaninovHall (Moscow) as well as a major tour of New Zealand and Australia. They have also performed atall of the major London concert venues, including the Wigmore, Cadogan, Royal Festival andQueen Elizabeth halls and Kings Place. In 2011 they performed in the ‘Solistas del Siglo XXI’series at the Teatro Monumental, Madrid, which was broadcast live on Radio Clásica, Spain. Theyhave also broadcast live on NDR Kultur and SWR Radio, Germany. Festival appearances in the UKinclude Edinburgh Fringe, Harrogate, Salisbury, Brighton and Newbury.

photo: Chris Christodoulou

FANNY MENDELSSOHN HENSEL (1805-1847)STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT MAJOR (1834)

17 Adagio ma non troppo18 Allegretto19 Romanze20 Allegro molto vivace

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