String Quartets by Del Adalid, Arriola & Durán Cuarteto Novecento

• Marcial Del Adalid (1826 - 1881): String Quartet in G Major, Op. 16:
• 1Adalid: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 16: I. Allegro05:36
• 2Adalid: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 16: II. Andante quasi Adagio05:35
• 3Adalid: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 16: III. Minuetto04:20
• 4Adalid: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 16: IV. Finale. Moderato molto, quasi andante - Allegro Assai05:22
• José Arriola (1895 - 1954): String Quartet in C Major:
• 5Arriola: String Quartet in C Major: I. Andante molto - Allegro non Troppo06:38
• 6Arriola: String Quartet in C Major: II. Moderato07:33
• 7Arriola: String Quartet in C Major: III. Allegro Giocoso03:37
• 8Arriola: String Quartet in C Major: IV. Finale. Ciaccona - Fuga - Andante Molto10:41
• String Quartet:
• 9Durán: String Quartet: I. Pasodoble05:58
• 10Durán: String Quartet: II. Blues08:33
• 11Durán: String Quartet: III. Samba04:00
• Total Runtime01:07:53

Info for String Quartets by Del Adalid, Arriola & Durán

This recording showcases 3 string quartets by 3 Galician composers from 3 consecutive centuries: Adalid (19th century), Arriola (20th century) and Durán (21st century). Each composer represents the experiences of their respective lifetimes in Galicia, a place with a true vocation for universality.

Marcial del Adalid (1826–1881) was born into a family with a great musical tradition. After studying in London with Ignaz Moscheles, one of Beethoven’s disciples, Adalid became one of the main representatives of the ‘Rexurdimento’, a Romantic nationalist movement in Galicia. Adalid recovered traditional Galician melodies which had, up until then, only been transmitted orally, and put them in his work Cantares viejos y nuevos de Galicia.

According to Margarita Viso, the main scholar and editor of Adalid's work, the String Quartet in G Op.16 was the author's only foray into this genre. The four movements follow the pathway set by Beethoven, and echoes of his Sonata Pathétique can be heard; later, the final section recalls the transparent classicism of the Haydnian rondos.

José Rodríguez Carballeira, better known as José Arriola (1895–1954), was a famous pianist and composer. A child prodigy, he was sponsored by the Queen Regent María Cristina who gave him a scholarship to study in Germany with Richard Strauss, and he later completed successful world tours. However, tragedy struck Arriola at the end of the Second World War when his home in Berlin was destroyed and he lost almost everything. The composer had to return to Spain in 1946, when the country was facing the harsh post-war years.

Arriola's String Quartet in C, dedicated to the memory of his mother, presents writing imbued with Germanic post-romanticism, the legacy of Strauss’s teachings. A work of great depth, Arriola creates a dense polyphonic framework while eliminating ornaments, giving the piece great lyrical intensity.

Juan Durán (b.1960) is one of the most representative composers of the current generation of Galician artists. He has written many pieces for chamber, symphonic, vocal and stage genres, as well as orchestrations of Galician music. He was awarded with the 2009 Critics' Award, the 2013 Galician Culture Prize and the 2018 Reina Sofía Prize for Composition. He is a member of the Royal Galician Academy of Fine Arts and the M.I. Valencian Music Academy. The most striking aspect of his String Quartet is, without a doubt, the choice of the three movements that make it up: a pasodoble, a blues and a samba. Durán wanted to heighten the classical form through maintaining its sonata structure. Therefore, the pasodoble acts as the exposition section, the blues is the development, and the energetic final samba is structured around the recurring rondo.

Cuarteto Novecento

Cuarteto Novecento
Four musicians from different corners of Europe meet in Santiago de Compostela. Ildikó Oltai, Irina Gruia, Ioana Ciobotaru and Millán Abeledo. All of them members of the orchestra Real Filharmonía de Galicia, they decide to join together and form a stable string quartet.

The Cuarteto Novecento offers more than a usual repertoire: it focuses on music written at the end of Impressionism to cover the whole of the 20th century. Music that is unknown or little known but always amusing, always sensitive and always original. In their recitals, each work represents a country, a culture and a musical philosophy full of contrasts, ready to move and satisfy the sensibility of their audience. The Cuarteto Novecento wants, with this initiative, to present a different and differentiated proposal that completes the chamber music scene from Santiago de Compostela.

The first concert of the Cuarteto Novecento was held in June 2016 at the Paraninfo of the University of Santiago de Compostela with works by Turina, Britten, Shostakovich and Bartók, to great public and critical acclaim.

It is worth mentioning his participation in different chamber music programmes of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Philharmonic Society of Vigo, Religious Music Cycle of Barcia de Mera, Philharmonic Society of Rías Baixas, Philharmonic Society of Monforte de Lemos, Philharmonic Society of Pontevedra, Harp Festival of Noia, Friends of the Opera Association of Santiago de Compostela, among others.

In 2018 he collaborated in the album "Fios de ouro no ár" by the Galician musician Rodrigo Romaní. The same year she promoted the cycle "Women Composers" with the University of Santiago de Compostela. On behalf of the Concello de Betanzos she premiered the Cuarteto de Cordas nº11 by the Galician composer Carlos López García-Picos.

This album contains no booklet.