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Home , Amadeus Quartet, Borodin Quartet, Busch Quartet, Griller Quartet, LaSalle Quartet, Norbert Brainin

71 Tracks

tHE Recordings Vol. I

BEETHOVEN , 1950-1967 recording producer: Wolfgang Gottschalk (Op. 127) Hartung (Op. 59, 2) Hermann Reuschel (Op. 18, 2-5 / Op. 59, 1 / Op. 130-133 / Op. 135 / Op. 29) Salomon (Op. 18, 1+6 / Op. 59, 3 / Op. 95) recording engineer: Siegbert Bienert (Op. 18, 5 / Op. 130-133 / Op. 29) Peter Burkowitz (Op. 18, 6) tHE Heinz Opitz (Op. 18, 2 / Op. 59, 1+2 / Op. 127 / Op. 135) Preuss (Op. 18, 1 / Op. 59, 3 / Op. 95) Alfred Steinke (Op. 18, 3+4) Amadeus Quartet Recordings Berlin, 1950-1967 Eine Aufnahme von RIAS Berlin (lizenziert durch Deutschlandradio) recording: P 1950 - 1967 Deutschlandradio research: Rüdiger Albrecht remastering: P 2013 Ludger Böckenhoff rights: claims all rights arising from copyright law and competition law in relation to research, compilation and re-mastering of the original audio tapes, Vol. I BEETHOVEN as well as the publication of this CD. Violations will be prosecuted. The historical publications at audite are based, without exception, on the original tapes from broadcasting archives. In general these are the original analogue tapes, mstaster release which attain an astonishingly high quality, even measured by today’s standards, with their tape speed of up to 76 cm/sec. The remastering – professionally com- petent and sensitively applied – also uncovers previously hidden details of the interpretations. Thus, a sound of superior quality results. CD publications based 1 on private recordings from broadcasts cannot be compared with these. Amadeus-Quartett further reading: Daniel Snowman: The Amadeus Quartet. The Men and the Music, I Robson Books (, 1981) violin II Gerd Indorf: Beethovens Streichquartette, Rombach Verlag (Freiburg i. Br., Berlin, Wien, 22007) photos: Deutschlandradio-Archiv art direction and design: AB•Design viola II

e-mail: [email protected] • http: //www.audite.de © 2013 Ludger Böckenhoff Op. 18, No. 1 in F major 26:13 String Quartet Op. 18, No. 4 in C minor 19:50 I. Allegro con brio 7:18 I. Allegro ma non tanto 6:45 II. Adagio affetuoso ed appassionato 9:32 II. Andante scherzoso, quasi Allegretto 5:34 III. Scherzo. Allegro molto 3:11 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 3:03 IV. Allegro 6:12 IV. Allegro – Prestissimo 4:28 recording date / location: 24.4.1951 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz recording date / location: 10.2.1962 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz

String Quartet Op. 18, No. 2 in G major 22:26 String Quartet Op. 18, No. 5 in A major 24:47 I. Allegro 6:13 I. Allegro 4:58 II. Adagio cantabile – Allegro – Tempo I 6:08 II. Menuetto 4:47 III. Scherzo. Allegro 4:19 III. Andante cantabile con variazioni 9:55 IV. Allegro molto, quasi Presto 5:46 IV. Allegro 5:07 recording date / location: 7.12.1958 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz recording date / location: 26.11.1962 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz

String Quartet Op. 18, No. 3 in D major 21:25 String Quartet Op. 18, No. 6 in B flat major 23:20 I. Allegro 5:42 I. Allegro con brio 4:24 II. Andante con moto 7:56 II. Adagio ma non troppo 7:26 III. Allegro 2:59 III. Scherzo. Allegro 3:16 IV. Presto 4:48 IV. La Malinconia. Adagio – Allegretto quasi Allegro 8:14 recording date / location: 10.2.1962 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz recording date / location: 9.6.1950 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz String Quartet Op. 59, No. 1 in F major 37:29 String Quartet Op. 59, No. 3 in C major 29:51 ‘Rasumovsky No. 1’ ‘Rasumovsky No. 3’ I. Allegro 10:17 I. Introduzione. Andante con moto – Allegro vivace 8:09 II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 8:31 II. Andante con moto quasi Allegretto 10:26 III. Adagio molto e mesto 11:56 III. Menuetto. Grazioso 4:46 IV. Thème russe. Allegro 6:45 IV. Allegro molto 6:30 recording date / location: 10.12.1959 – Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin-Dahlem recording date / location: 26.5.1952 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz

String Quartet Op. 59, No. 2 in E minor 33:43 String Quartet Op. 95 in F minor 22:07 ‘Rasumovsky No. 2’ ‘Quartett[o] serioso’ I. Allegro 8:39 I. Allegro con brio 4:58 II. Molto Adagio. Si tratta questo pezzo II. Allegretto ma non troppo 7:16 con molto di sentimento 12:05 III. Allegro assai vivace ma serioso – Più Allegro 4:41 III. Allegretto – Maggiore 7:25 IV. Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato – Allegro 5:12 IV. Finale. Presto 5:34 recording date / location: 20.11.1951 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz recording date / location: 8.12.1960 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz String Quartet Op. 127 in E flat major 34:02 String Quartet Op. 130 in B flat major 35:10 I. Maestoso – Allegro 6:43 I. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro – Tempo primo 8:54 II. Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile – II. Presto 1:57 Andante con moto 14:30 III. Andante con moto ma non troppo 6:23 III. Scherzo. Vivace 6:31 IV. Alla danza tedesca. Allegro assai 2:54 IV. Allegro 6:18 V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo 7:17 VI. Finale. Allegro 7:45 recording date / location: 17.3.1967, Hochschule für Musik, Berlin recording date / location: 26.11.1962 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz

String Quartet Op. 131 in C sharp minor 38:52 I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo 6:54 String Quartet Op. 135 in F major 25:56 II. Allegro molto vivace 3:03 I. Allegretto 6:43 III. Allegro moderato 0:54 II. Vivace 3:35 IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile 14:28 III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo 8:19 V. Presto 5:12 IV. Der schwer gefasste Entschluss. VI. Adagio quasi un poco Andante 1:51 Grave, ma non troppo tanto (Muß es sein?) – VII. Allegro 6:30 Allegro (Es muß sein!) 7:19 recording date / location: 26.11.1962 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz recording date / location: 7.12.1958 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz

Great Fugue Op. 133 16:49 I. Overtura. Allegro

recording date / location: 29.11.1957 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz String Quartet Op. 132 in A minor 43:08 I. Assai sostenuto – Allegro 10:09 II. Allegro ma non tanto 7:42 III. Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart. Molto Adagio – Neue Kraft fühlend. Andante – Molto Adagio. Mit innigster Empfindung 16:23 IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace – Più Allegro 2:11 V. Allegro appassionato – Presto 6:43 recording date / location: 12.11.1956 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz

String Quintet Op. 29 in C major 28:37 I. Allegro moderato 8:08 II. Adagio molto espressivo 9:32 III. Scherzo. Allegro 3:46 IV. Presto 7:11 recording date / location: 29.11.1957 – Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz A (nearly) complete Beethoven study with Carl Flesch, then the lead- interned there: “The brains of Europe Norbert Brainin became first violinist, cycle from the studios of RIAS Berlin ing violin teacher, now unintentionally were in those camps, they were a real Siegmund Nissel second violinist and Mar- One of the most important string quar- emigrated at the end of the year. At the university.” The British government soon tin Lovett the cellist. tets of the last century, the Amadeus beginning of the following year, Brainin accepted the futility of the enterprise and , daughter of the com- Quartet enjoyed an extraordinary repu- sought out Carl Flesch in London. How- from the autumn of 1940 started closing poser Gustav Holst, had noticed the tation: not only con- ever, the lessons came to an abrupt end the camps. Brainin had first met Schidlof young ensemble, then still under the noisseurs, but also critics regarded it when Carl Flesch left . at the camp. After Brainin was discharged, name of “Brainin String Quartet”, and as virtually synonymous with the genre Siegmund Nissel (1922-2008), born Schidlof met Siegmund Nissel. Soon after arranged for them to perform at Darting- of the string quartet, in the same way in , came to at the age of their release, the three young musicians ton Hall in Devon in July 1947. The great as seemed to nine. During the winter of 1938-39, he headed towards the northwest of Eng- success of this concert prompted Holst embody the ideal conductor. The quar- reached England thanks to the Kinder- land where, on the recommendation of to plan a large-scale concert: it became tet retained its original players for almost transport [Refugee Children Movement] another internee, they received tuition the official founding concert of what forty years – a period of time which very mission. Peter Schidlof (1922-1987) from . Rostal, a violinist and was now announced as “The Amadeus few other quartets have been able to arrived in England at the end of 1938 himself a pupil of Carl Flesch, had emi- String Quartet” at London’s Wigmore match. Thus the death of the violist Peter together with his sister. Their parents did grated to Britain in 1934. He pressed the Hall on 10 January 1948. The musicians Schidlhof in 1987 inevitably signified the not manage to leave : they died at three musicians to found a string quartet. had been preceded by such a reputation end of the Amadeus Quartet. a concentration camp. Suzanne Rozsa, a young violinist, played in that the concert of this entirely unknown In May 1940, after Britain had joined Rostal’s chamber orchestra at that time. quartet was completely sold out. This Meeting at the internment camp the war, Churchill established internment Through her, Peter Schidlhof, at the end legendary performance marks the begin- Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel and camps for “enemy aliens” (at that point, of 1946, met the 19-year-old English- ning of the meteoric rise of the Amadeus Peter Schidlhof were all violin students Britain was the only European enemy of born cellist Martin Lovett (b.1927), him- Quartet, whose career had only few living in or near Vienna. They were also Hitler’s ). Around 27,000 for- self from a family of immigrants (Suzanne slumps which occurred due to illness. all of Jewish descent and left Austria eigners were interned in various camps, Rozsa and Martin Lovett later married). Although only in their first year of in 1938, the year of the so-called Annexa- predominantly on the . Sieg- existence, the quartet travelled through tion, heading for England. At that point mund Nissel, who had, as well as Brainin First concerts, first recordings Britain as part of a small tour and made they did not know each other. Norbert and Schidlof, been taken to the Isle of The long-cherished wish of all four musi- their first radio recordings for the BBC. Brainin (1923-2005) who had originally Man, described the situation in the camps cians to play in a quartet now became One year later, they made their first planned to come to England in order to with the many intellectuals and artists reality. Peter Schidlhof took up the viola, recording on disc – of a string quartet by the South-African composer Priaulx similar destiny when, following Rudolf Amadeus Quartet there were also the designed for orchestral performances. Rainier, who lived in England but has Kolisch’s emigration to the USA in 1936, (), the Fine Arts On the other hand, chamber music was today sunk into oblivion. In 1953, the it performed under varying names and Quartet (Chicago), the Hollywood String more widely distributed thanks to the Amadeus Quartet went on their first with different performers. The Viennese Quartet (New York), the Quartetto relatively new media of records and the tour of America. “The Wolf Gang”, as Rosé Quartet of the violinist Arnold Rosé, Italiano, the Janáček Quartet (Brno), radio. Until electrical recordings were they were affectionately called by friends one of the most long-lasting quartets of all the (New York), introduced in the mid-1920s, only a small and colleagues, gave more than a hundred time, also dissolved after Rosé’s emigra- the LaSalle Quartet (Cincinnati) and the amount of chamber music was recorded concerts each year, toured regularly and tion to London in 1938. They had all been Tátrai Quartet (Hungary), to name just on disc, predominantly due to problems made countless recordings. forced into emigration due to their Jewish the most eminent ones. The Borodin of balance which were virtually impos- backgrounds. Quartet and the Juilliard String Quartet sible to solve. The Amadeus Quartet, Farewell and new beginnings The destruction of German cultural life still perform today, albeit without even having made recordings from the very A whole series of partly fortunate, partly by the Nazis not only affected the personal one of their founding members. beginning, advanced in status and became adverse events paved the way for the lives of musicians, but also caused musical the “ensemble-in-residence” of Deutsche Amadeus Quartet to join the league of centres to shift. Of the great quartets Career in the recording studio Grammophon. In several annual recording leading string quartets of the second half who had been active before the war, it The Amadeus Quartet was based in sessions they recorded, over the course of the twentieth century. At the time of was principally the Budapest String Quar- Great Britain, a territory where, after of the years, the entire core repertoire its official début concert in January 1948, tet, who, following its emigration to the the had left for the USA of chamber music for strings, including several of the important pre-war ensem- USA in 1938, managed not only to settle in at the beginning of the 1950s, there were string quintets and piano quartets. In the bles had said farewell to the stage. Perhaps America but also, thanks to its association practically no rivals to conquer. Two western European countries they were the most important, trendsetting quartet with the Washington , factors in particular contributed to the thus regarded as the ideal string quartet. of pre-war Germany, the , to maintain its success. The Budapest growing demand for chamber music at Even in 1975, the great German critic had been founded in 1913. In 1933, its String Quartet, who performed until 1967, that time – on the one hand it was no Joachim Kaiser, at the occasion of their members went into exile to , was able to hold its position in post-war longer predominantly played at salons Beethoven cycle in Munich, referred to later to the USA, but the quartet was no America thanks to numerous recordings. to invited audiences (a long-surviving them as “still the best string quartet in longer able to resume its previous suc- The immediate post-war years marked tradition, for already in 1810 string quar- the world”. cess and disbanded following the death of a new beginning also in musical life. tets were formed who played to paying The particular qualities of their play- in 1952. The Viennese Kolisch Many string quartets were formed bourgeois audiences), but increasingly at ing, which critics would emphasise, were Quartet, founded in 1921, experienced a between 1945 and 1948: apart from the large-scale concert halls that had been the homogeneity of their ensemble sound and quasi-orchestral sonorities with a sions in 1951 for the small American label note for how many German radio sta- engaged Jewish artists as an act of repa- warm tone, rich in . Their tempi, Westminster, they made a few record- tions they were able to record as early ration is hardly tenable as such. It seems never overly rushed or stretched, were ings which were sold both by His Mas- as 1950. One of their stops was in Berlin more likely that it was her intention, by at the service of an organic formal design ters Voice and Deutsche Grammophon where they performed for the RIAS, the engaging the best musicians, to continue and created part of the overall impres- within their respective markets – an radio station initiated by the American the pre-war tradition and to re-invigorate sion as much as their intensive attention unsatisfactory situation which was only occupying power in former West Ber- the fallow cultural life of Berlin.) When to detail. The downside of this musi- resolved in 1959 through an exclusive lin. The musicians remained loyal to the she moved to Deutsche Grammophon cal conception was that the performers contract with Deutsche Grammophon. RIAS, each year returning to the Berlin in 1952-53, Elsa Schiller took several art- were sometimes accused of a tendency From that point, recordings were made recording studio, the Siemens villa in the ists with her whom she had promoted towards concentrating on the creation systematically; initially, a Beethoven cycle Berlin district of Lankwitz. The person and discovered for the RIAS. Each year, of a beautiful sound, above all else. The was recorded which was later followed by responsible for this close association even after they had started making dominance of the first violinist, Nor- Mozart and Haydn cycles and recordings between the Amadeus Quartet and the records for Deutsche Grammophon, the bert Brainin, was sometimes impossible of works by Brahms and Schubert. Cer- Berlin broadcasting station was the RIAS’ Amadeus Quartet travelled to Berlin for to miss; however, in the early days of tain works were recorded twice or even head of music at the time, Elsa Schiller. one or two sessions at the RIAS. The first the quartet, there were also those who three times in order to replace the older A Jewish pianist and a Holocaust survi- recording session on 8 June 1950 began claimed the opposite. Varying opinions mono recordings with stereo record- vor, she had many contacts in the music with a contemporary work: Michael Tip- aside, the specific sound of the Amadeus ings, or, later on, to make use of the then world and a good instinct for new tal- pett’s second string quartet, written Quartet was always instantly recognis- modern digital technology. ent. Not only did she ensure that a great in 1942. For the twenty-third and last able, though the characteristics in the number of Furtwängler’s post-war con- session on 18 June 1969, works by Haydn interpretation of a Haydn string quartet A loyal relationship – the Amadeus certs in Berlin were recorded (audite and Mendelssohn had been scheduled. could have never been mistaken for those Quartet and RIAS Berlin 21.403), she also discovered the young A closer look at the recording session of a quartet by Béla Bartók. Much less renowned than their record- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (audite 95.597), notes reveals long-term planning – after Alongside the ensemble’s concert ings on disc are the radio recordings of Ferenc Fricsay (Fricsay Edition at audite) nineteen years of making recordings, the schedule, the second major pillar of the the ensemble. In 1948, at the occasion and took note of the Amadeus Quartet. archives at the RIAS (today’s archives Amadeus Quartet’s activities was mak- of their first tour of Britain, they were (Norman Lebrecht’s claim in his book of DeutschlandradioKultur) comprised ing recordings. Whereas initially only given the opportunity to play for the BBC Maestros, Masterpieces and Madness: the material which, relatively accurately, cor- occasional releases for different labels in London. Two years later, they toured secret life and shameful death of the clas- responds to the Amadeus Quartet’s rep- were made, including two recording ses- widely in Germany. It is astonishing to sical record industry that she primarily ertoire of those years. The Amadeus Quartet plays No 1 (from 1799) until No 6 (completed The Viennese publishers demanded that technical and formal complexity. This Beethoven in 1808). The Eighth Symphony and the composers produce sets of up to six single music could no longer be played by ama- ’s string quartets beginning of the conception of the Ninth, works which could be subsumed and pub- teur ensembles and, likewise, could not formed one of the main repertoire pil- however, are separated by ten years. The lished under one opus number. Anything be understood by listeners with no previ- lars of the Amadeus Quartet. When series of piano sonatas begins earlier, but musical lightweights, as the attribute ous knowledge. Another two, or rather Siegmund Nissel, in a conversation at around 1795, and develops continuously, “early work” might suggest, these six three, years later, two single contribu- the Musikhochschule broadcast but ends with the Sonata in C minor, quartets represent the state of current tions followed, no longer subsumed in by the RIAS in 1990, proclaimed Mozart Op. 111, in 1821, before the major project quartet composition at a time when Beet­ groups, which could not be more differ- to have been the greatest composer of of the Ninth Symphony. The conception hoven was able confidently to present ent. In 1809, he wrote, in parallel with the all time, Norbert Brainin contradicted of a work cycle across a long life span can them on the marketplace. He did not com- Fifth Piano Concerto, the String Quartet him. According to Brainin, Mozart had be planned only to a certain extent since pose them in the order in which they were in E flat major, Op. 74, a relatively serene, certainly written the most perfect music, external, biographical circumstances also printed. The first one to be written was carefree work which is not included in but Beethoven, in his quartets, and par- play their role. Indeed, the three blocks probably No 3 in D major (1798), followed this edition. In 1810, he composed the ticularly the late quartets, had surveyed of string quartets are each preceded by by Nos 1, 2, 5 and 4. He concluded the set Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, which is also regions which no other composer, before piano sonatas, exposing, in every case, in 1800 with No 6 in B flat major. fairly short. This was the first string quar- or after him, had ever reached. the new elements. The Sonate pathétique After a pause of around six years, the tet which Beethoven composed “freely”, Preliminary work apart, Beethoven and the two Sonatas Op. 14 stand at the Quartets Op. 59 followed – this was a set without a commission from a patron. In began exploring the string quartet genre beginning of Beethoven’s exploration of of three works, the so-called Razumovsky the autograph score, it bears the sub- at a relatively late stage of his career, the String Quartets Op. 18, and the Piano Quartets. Beethoven wrote them at the heading “Quartetto serioso”, possibly when he was already twenty-seven Sonata in F minor, Op. 57, the Appassion- same time as his Fourth Piano Concerto indicating the reason – rather abrupt years old. At the same time as com- ata, precedes the String Quartets Op. 59. in G major, Op. 58. Count Andreas Razu- sonorities – why Beethoven had intended posing his six String Quartets op. 18, The late string quartets were written movsky, the dedicatee, a Russian diplo- this work for only a small circle of con- between 1798 and 1800, he opened his several years after the final piano sonatas. mat, gave the first public performance of noisseurs, and why he would only release set of Symphonies with his No 1. Analo- the quartets together with Ignaz Schup- it for publication years later. At times, gous to his thirty-two piano sonatas, The music panzigh, who would later become the personal circumstances, such as giving the third most important instrumental Beethoven’s Quartets Op. 18 came into leader of the . The up hope on marrying Countess Josephine genre in Beethoven’s oeuvre, his sym- being thanks to a commission by Prince Razumovsky Quartets far exceed their Deym, have been suspected as non-musi- phony cycle grew steadily each year, from Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz. predecessors in their expanse and their cal influences on the work. In 1821, eleven years later, Beethoven The set of the final quartets opens inexorable gallop which contains only a String Sextet Verklärte Nacht in 1902 as concluded his Piano Sonatas with with the Quartet in E flat major Op. 127, few brief moments of calm. well as his Chamber Symphony and the his Op. 111 in C minor, and another whose drafts stretched back to May 1822 For nearly eight months, from the String Quartet No. 1 in 1907, and the sec- three years later, he closed his series of and which was written between the end of 1825 until July 1826, Beethoven ond String Quartet with voice one year symphonies with his Ninth. During the summer of 1824 and February of 1825. worked on the kaleidoscopic and rug- later – the concert scandals went down in final two years of his life, he dedicated In the following quartet, Op. 132 in ged Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131, musical history. The few surviving sound himself almost exclusively to compos- A minor, composed between Febru- in seven movements. During the last documents of the Rosé Quartet present ing string quartets. These late works ary and July 1825, the third movement, months of the same year, there fol- us with an historical reflection of music- radically break with the conventions of an Adagio of enormous proportions is lowed the F major Quartet, Op. 135, and making of Mahler’s contemporaries. The composing at that time, overcoming, as headed Heiliger Dankgesang eines Gene­ another finale for the B flat major Quar- independence in sound and the rhyth- it were, the genre of the string quartet senen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Ton- tet, Op. 130, the “replacement” for the mic flexibility, especially of the first vio- at the moment of its first blossoming and art [A sacred thanksgiving of a convalescent Great Fugue. lin, is remarkable. For Rosé, portamento increasing public popularity. Theodor to the deity, in the Lydian mode], reflecting is a stylistic element used to join notes W. Adorno named the characteristics of on a serious illness from which he had Models and phrases into a natural musical flow. Beethoven’s late style: the enlargement recently recovered. This movement can It was confirmed again and again that the Vibrato is used sparingly and calculatedly, and shortening of temporal expanse, be seen as instrumental sacred music playing of the Amadeus Quartet featured and mostly only in the leading part. dissociation (disintegration and dissolu- whose choral parts are set in the Lydian a Viennese espressivo which was particu- Siegmund Nissel, the second violin- tion) of formal strategies, thinning of mode, referring to Haydn’s Seven Last larly associated with the first violinist, ist of the Amadeus Quartet, had heard musical texture, inclusion of vocal forms Words of our Saviour on the Cross, Op. 51, Norbert Brainin. In his youth, before the Busch Quartet in Vienna. Its style (e.g. in the form of a recitative) and the for String Quartet. 1938, Brainin had heard the legendary varies fundamentally from that of the extension of the expressive spectrum During the remaining months of 1825 Rosé Quartet several times in Vienna. Its Rosé Quartet. Here, the characteris- which does not exclude harsh sonorities. Beethoven composed his Quartet in first violinist, Arnold Rosé, had been con- tics of modern quartet playing are for According to Adorno, a crucial element B flat major, Op. 130 whose sixth move- cert master of the Vienna Court Opera the first time presented with validity. of Beethoven’s late style is the independ- ment was conceived as a gigantic fugal Orchestra at the Vienna State Opera These are a homogenous sound with- ence of the smallest of motifs which then structure – which later was removed under Gustav Mahler during his tenure out the dominance of the first violin, form the basis of the musical material. from the quartet and published separately between 1897 and 1907. Rosé had always audibility of all the parts and, associ- The formless, as Adorno puts it, becomes as the Great Fugue, Op. 133. Both play- advocated the modern works of his ated with this, structural clarity and significant. ers and listeners are driven through this time: he premièred ’s transparency. Without doubt, the Amadeus Quar- in C major, Op. 29 – Cecil Aronowitz concert with the Amadeus Quartet, dur- tet was indebted to the modern playing more than a mere substitute From the beginning, the Amadeus ing the performance of the String Quin- of the Busch Quartet. However, Nor- The reason behind the exclusion of the Quartet included string quintets in its tet in C major, K515, by Mozart. He died bert Brainin’s sound was repeatedly lik- two Quartets in E flat major (Op. 74 and programmes. At these occasions, the the following day. ened to the Viennese style. In London Op. 127) from the recording schedule is ensemble worked together with the in 1947, during the time of their “unof- unclear. This edition therefore includes a violist Cecil Aronowitz. Born in 1916 Acquiring the music ficial” concert, the four musicians heard concert recording of the Quartet Op. 127 and raised in South Africa, Aronowitz How did the Amadeus Quartet conquer the complete Beethoven cycle of the from the Berlin Hoch­schule für Musik, was taught the violin by a nun at a con- Beethoven’s Quartet cosmos? The radio Busch Quartet. Their own exploration given at the concert hall of what today vent school. After the war he took up recordings documented in this CD edi- of the Beethoven Quartets began with is called the Universität der Künste. And the viola. Apparently, he bought a viola tion, which were made over a period of their performance of the String Quar- for the Quartet Op. 74, nicknamed the at that time for 25 Pounds which he seventeen years, clearly reveal the chang- tet in C major, Op. 59 No 3. Each year, “Harp”, the Amadeus Quartet fortu- played for the rest of his life (Norbert ing interpretational premises. In a con- they added more works to their reper- nately left a “substitute”: the String Quin- Brainin repeatedly joked that Aronowitz’ versation with schoolchildren in Berlin, toire until they had conquered the entire tet in C major, Op. 29. This is Beethoven’s viola case was more expensive than the recorded by the RIAS in 1970, Norbert Beet­hoven Quartet oeuvre. At the end of only original contribution to this genre: instrument that he carried in it). He was Brainin explained that interpretation the 1950s they felt ready to record it on all other string quintets or quintet move- a founding member of the Melos Ensem- primarily meant reproducing a work disc. However, at the radio studios of the ments are fragments or arrangements. ble and realised many premières and first faithfully. When asked in how far one RIAS they made their first sound docu- It was written in either 1800 or 1801, performances, including Benjamin Brit- could improvise during a performance, ments as early as 1950, in their very first directly after, or at the same time as, ten’s Lachrymae in 1976, and, in the same he answered that one could play a work recording session, featuring the String the six String Quartets Op. 18. The first year, the British première of Shosta­ more freely the better one knew it, but Quartet in B flat major, Op. 18 No 6. theme develops completely from the kovich’s swansong, the Sonata for Viola that, on the whole, the scope for sponta- After two further quartets, the series sound: a gentle swinging, moving in the and Piano, Op. 147. As a soloist, he gave neity is very limited (excerpts of this con- was continued in 1956, and temporarily smallest intervals. The first violin and the much-acclaimed performances of viola versation are available at www.audite.de). concluded in 1962. Thanks to these radio cello make up the frame, supplementing concertos, predominantly of the twen- The recordings of the Amadeus Quartet recordings it is now possible to experi- each other in complementary movements. tieth century. He remained loyal to the expose their careful attention to detail ence the process of the Amadeus Quar- The entire score is dominated by the prin- Amadeus Quartet from its beginnings whilst never losing sight of the bigger pic- tet “acquiring” the Beethoven cycle. ciple of pairs of parts, often set against in 1948 until his death. In September 1978 ture. The tempo of a movement is, on the each other in blocks. he suffered a strokein the middle of a whole, strictly maintained; in the minuets and scherzo movements, the trio has (a tempo should therefore no longer be left years later this scaling shifts towards a dif- few, well-founded, exceptions apart) the to the taste of the interpreter. ferentiation of sound strength and inten- same pulse as the opening of the move- The musicians of the Amadeus Quar- sity, i.e. a piano is weighted differently by ment. Deviations from this rule are thus tet solved this problem by following the means of bow pressure and articulation all the more surprising, as for instance Italian (and sometimes also German) than a pianissimo. the noticeably faster and more strongly performance instructions for each move- Thanks to the regular visits of the accentuated repeat of the minuet in the ment, realising them as part of an organic Amadeus Quartet to the Berlin studios third movement of the String Quartet formal plan that always kept in mind the of the RIAS, it is possible for us today to in C minor, Op. 18 No. 4 (CD2, track 3, entire work. It surely is no coincidence accompany this ensemble, who contrib- from 2’15). that the Amadeus Quartet often comes uted significantly to popularising chamber Articulation and phrasing are not rated close to Beethoven’s metronome mark- music during the 1950s and 1960s, on its as secondary attributes of the score but, ings which becomes noticeable in their path of “acquiring” Beethoven’s string on the contrary, as an integral component generally rapid tempi. The quartet’s quartets: with the aid of this documen- of the same. The aim is a quasi “objec- endeavour to achieve a consistent overall tation, listeners will hopefully be encour- tive” representation of the score without effect sometimes resulted in reproaches aged and challenged to explore these the ballast of interpretational history and of appearing “smooth”. When Nissel works for themselves. tradition. One exception is the prob- related that, particularly during the early lem of Beethoven’s original metronome years of the quartet’s existence, they Rüdiger Albrecht markings: even today, these are rejected attempted to play “beautifully”, there Translation: Viola Scheffel by many performers as their literal reali- seemed to be a sense of irony. sation is deemed impossible, since they If the early recordings of the 1950s were apparently based on a faulty met- seem more nervous and tense, this is ronome which Beethoven had at his dis- due to the entirely different treatment posal. In his study Tempo and Character in of dynamics, the volume. Whereas in, for Beethoven’s Music, Rudolf Kolisch proved instance, the String Quartet in B flat major, that the character of Beethoven’s different Op. 18 No. 6, the volume levels are clearly types of movements necessarily results distinguished from one another (i.e. a pia- from the selected tempo. The choice of nissimo is notably softer than a piano), ten documentation sheet documentation sheet