HORIZON FUNÈBRE

Composer(s): Leoš Janáček, Franz Schubert

Artist(s): Taurus Quartet
Reference: KTC1604
Barcode: 8711801016047
Format: 1 CD
Release date: 2018-01-13
SKU: KTC1604 Categories: , ,

 21,50

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One full century lies between the deaths of Franz Schubert (1828) and Leoš Janácek (1928). It was during this century that Romanticism reached its apogee and then faded away, to be replaced by the modernist styles of the Second Viennese School. Despite the fact that more than one hundred years separate the two works recorded here, their similarities are nonetheless striking: we have two string quartets, each of which stares death in the face. They are incredibly direct in their musical expression and the extremes of style that they reveal are overwhelming. The awareness of mortality and of imminent death has always been a source of inspiration for artists and composers. We normally associate refl ections on death with sombre emotions, with sorrow and with pain. Grief, however, is not the most important characteristic of these two musical testaments. The final string quartets of both Schubert and Janácek are musical representations of life’s essence in all of its glory and grandeur; death, therefore, is the motive for the continual abrupt alternations between fear and euphoria.

The Taurus Quartet’s debut CD project is entitled Horizon funèbre and consists of two works dealing with the theme of death by Janácek and Schubert on two CDs. These are the fi nal string quartets by both composers, Schubert’s String Quartet nr. 15 in G major and Janácek’s String Quartet nr. 2 "Intimate Letters": two musical testaments, written shortly before the composers’ respective deaths. The two works on their next CD - Schubert’s String Quartet nr. 14 ‘der Tod und das Mädchen’ and Janácek’s String Quartet nr. 1 ‘Kreutzer Sonate’ — will depict the cruelty of death: death as an active agent, as seen through passion, jealousy and murder. The covers of both CDs, when placed alongside, will form a reproduction in full of ‘Wheat fi eld with crows": Vincent van Gogh’s own Horizon funèbre.

1. String Quaret No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’: I. Andante – Con moto – Allegro
Composer: Leoš Janáček
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

2. String Quaret No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’: II. Adagio – Vivace
Composer: Leoš Janáček
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

3. String Quaret No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’: III. Moderato – Andante – Adagio
Composer: Leoš Janáček
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

4. String Quaret No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’: IV. Allegro – Andante – Adagio
Composer: Leoš Janáček
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

5. String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D 887, Op. 161 (Posth.): I. Allegro molto moderato
Composer: Franz Peter Schubert
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

6. String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D 887, Op. 161 (Posth.): II. Andante un poco moto
Composer: Franz Peter Schubert
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

7. String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D 887, Op. 161 (Posth.): III. Scherzo: allegro vivace – Trio: Allegretto
Composer: Franz Peter Schubert
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

8. String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D 887, Op. 161 (Posth.): IV. Allegro assai
Composer: Franz Peter Schubert
Artist(s): Taurus Quartet

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HORIZON FUNÈBRE
 21,50
Listen on your favorite streaming serviceSpotify IconSpotify
Listen on your favorite streaming serviceSpotify IconSpotify

One full century lies between the deaths of Franz Schubert (1828) and Leoš Janácek (1928). It was during this century that Romanticism reached its apogee and then faded away, to be replaced by the modernist styles of the Second Viennese School. Despite the fact that more than one hundred years separate the two works recorded here, their similarities are nonetheless striking: we have two string quartets, each of which stares death in the face. They are incredibly direct in their musical expression and the extremes of style that they reveal are overwhelming. The awareness of mortality and of imminent death has always been a source of inspiration for artists and composers. We normally associate refl ections on death with sombre emotions, with sorrow and with pain. Grief, however, is not the most important characteristic of these two musical testaments. The final string quartets of both Schubert and Janácek are musical representations of life’s essence in all of its glory and grandeur; death, therefore, is the motive for the continual abrupt alternations between fear and euphoria.

The Taurus Quartet’s debut CD project is entitled Horizon funèbre and consists of two works dealing with the theme of death by Janácek and Schubert on two CDs. These are the fi nal string quartets by both composers, Schubert’s String Quartet nr. 15 in G major and Janácek’s String Quartet nr. 2 "Intimate Letters": two musical testaments, written shortly before the composers’ respective deaths. The two works on their next CD - Schubert’s String Quartet nr. 14 ‘der Tod und das Mädchen’ and Janácek’s String Quartet nr. 1 ‘Kreutzer Sonate’ — will depict the cruelty of death: death as an active agent, as seen through passion, jealousy and murder. The covers of both CDs, when placed alongside, will form a reproduction in full of ‘Wheat fi eld with crows": Vincent van Gogh’s own Horizon funèbre.