Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 1 Doric String Quartet

• Ludvig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1:
• 1Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: I. Allegro con brio09:17
• 2Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato08:30
• 3Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: III. Scherzo. Allegro molto – Trio – Scherzo da capo03:02
• 4Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: IV. Allegro06:31
• String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6:
• 5Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: I. Allegro con brio08:56
• 6Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: II. Adagio ma non troppo08:07
• 7Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: III. Scherzo. Allegro – Trio – Scherzo da capo03:26
• 8Beethoven: String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6: IV. La Malinconia. Questo pezzo si deve trattare colla più gran delicatezza08:19
• String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso":
• 9Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": I. Allegro con brio04:27
• 10Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": II. Allegretto ma non troppo07:06
• 11Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": III. Allegro assai vivace ma serioso – Più Allegro04:33
• 12Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso": IV. Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato – Allegro04:53
• String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1:
• 13Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: I. Allegro10:17
• 14Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando09:00
• 15Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: III. Adagio molto e mesto – Molto cantabile12:54
• 16Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: IV. Thème russe. Allegro – Adagio ma non troppo – Presto07:55
• String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127:
• 17Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: I. Maestoso – Allegro – Maestoso – Allegro – Maestoso – Allegro07:34
• 18Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: II. Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile17:09
• 19Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: III. Scherzo. Vivace08:45
• 20Beethoven: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: IV. Finale. Allegro – Allegro comodo07:09
• Total Runtime02:37:50

Info for Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 1

The Doric String Quartet is firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics around the globe. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, the Quartet here embarks on a significant new recording project – the complete string quartets by Beethoven. This first volume combines works from Beethoven’s early, middle, and late period. The six quartets Op. 18 were the first he composed, in 1799 and 1800, encouraged by Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz, a significant patron of the arts. Once he had completed the set, Beethoven heavily revised the first three quartets, writing to a friend: ‘I have changed it considerably; for I have only now learned to write quartets correctly, as you will see when you receive them.’ Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky was the Russian ambassador to the Vieneese court, and the dedicatee of the three quartets Op. 59. The last of the middle-period quartets, Op. 95 (Serioso) was dedicated to Beethoven’s close friend and accomplished cellist Nikolaus Zmeskall and is regarded as showing a glimpse of what would come: Beethoven’s late quartets. Extremely complex and largely misunderstood by musicians and audiences in Beethoven's day, these quartets are now widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, and have inspired many later composers. Op. 127, featured in this volume, is the first of these monumental works.

Doric String Quartet

The Doric String Quartet is now firmly established as one of the outstanding quartets of their generation. In 2008 they won 1st prize in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy, where they also received a special mention for their performance of Haydn, and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.

Now in its 12th season highlights over the last year have included a critically acclaimed Haydn evening at Wigmore Hall broadcast by BBC Radio 3, debut recitals in Paris (Auditorium du Louvre), Milan and Frankfurt, and visits to the Schwetzinger, Florestan, Isle of Man and East Neuk Festivals. Further afield the Quartet toured throughout Japan and returned to Israel and South East Asia. They have collaborated with Mark Padmore, Chen Halevi, Julius Drake, Piers Lane, Melvyn Tan, the Leopold String Trio and Florestan Trio.

During 2009/10 the Quartet return to Wigmore Hall four times, as Quartet and in recitals with Philip Langridge, Andrew Kennedy (for a world premiere) and Alasdair Beatson. Future engagements include recitals at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and in Lucerne, Brussels and Hamburg, return visits to Israel and Italy, and debut concerts in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and the USA.

In November the Doric’s first commercial CD is released on the Wigmore Hall Live label of their Haydn concert at Wigmore Hall on 15 January 2009 and in 2010 they record their first CD for Chandos as part of a long-term collaboration.

Formed in 1998 at Pro Corda, The National School for Young Chamber Music Players, in Suffolk, from 2002 the Doric String Quartet studied on the Paris-based ProQuartet Professional Training Program, where they worked with members of the Alban Berg, Artemis, Hagen and LaSalle Quartets and with Gyorgy Kurtag. The Quartet continue to work with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) at the Music Academy in Basel.

In 2000 the Doric String Quartet won the inaugural Bristol Millennium Chamber Music Competition which led to a seven year residency at the Wiltshire Music Centre combining a concerts series with education work across the region. They continue this relationship as ‘Artists in Association’. The Quartet went on to give recitals at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall under the auspices of the Park Lane Group, appeared at the ORF (Austrian Radio) Funkhaus in Vienna in 2003 and made their Edinburgh Festival debut in 2006.

Alex Redington and Jonathan Stone completed their postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in 2005 where they studied with Howard Davis. Simon Tandree studied in Saarbrücken and Detmold with Dietmut Poppen. John Myerscough graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge in 2003 and is now a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studies with Louise Hopkins.

The Doric String Quartet acknowledges the generous support of an Anonymous Foundation.

Booklet for Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 1