Presented by Leo Samama.
Karl Weigl (1881-1949) – String Quartet no.3, in A major, opus 4 (1909)
- Innig bewegt, 2. Kräftig bewegt, 3. Sehr langsam, 4. Stürmisch
Perfomers: Artis Quartett Wien
CD: Orfeo
Anton Webern (1883-1945) – Streichquartett (1905)
Perfomers: Emerson String Quartet
CD: DGG
Anton Webern (1883-1945) – Sechs Bagatellen, opus 9 (1913)
- Mässig, 2. Leicht bewegt, 3. Ziemlich fliessend, 4. Sehr langsam, 5. Äusserst langsam, 6. Fliessend
Perfomers: Quartetto Italiano
CD: Philips
In 1910, Karl Weigl submitted his Third String Quartet for the annual Beethoven Prize, and indeed received this prestigious recognition from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. In the quartet, the listener is reminded – perhaps not without a sense of humour – of Beethoven: the last part of the quartet is coloured by the use of the scherzo from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
After this quartet by Weigl, we go four years back in time, but at the same time a big step forward in musical technique. After all, in his one-movement String Quartet, Anton Webern took harmonic and melodic music to the extreme. The chromaticism is so intense that the music never comes to a rest.
Finally, the superlative of Webern’s early expressionism: the Sechs Bagatellen opus 9, written between 1910 and 1913. Each of these ultra-short pieces fits on a single page and is packed with indications of how each note should be played, how each tone should sound: open, nasal, flageolet, loud or soft, and all with numerous tempo nuances.
