String Quartet No. 2 by Max Bruch. Performed by the Quartetto Academica.
I. Allegro Maestoso - Un Poco Piu Vivo - 00:00
II. Andante Quasi Adagio - 9:40
III. Vivace Ma Non Troppo - 16:18
IV. Finale - Vivace - 22:20
Writing in Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music,
Wilhelm Altmann, the respected chamber music critic notes that
all of Bruch's chamber music is distinguished by its beauty of tone.
- Wilhelm Altmann (4 April 1862 – 25 March 1951) -
was a German historian and musicologist.
【The Second Quartet is particularly effective.】
I. The themes to the opening movement, Allegro maestoso,
is full of vigor and sport a Mendelssohnian aura.
The breadth of the movement approaches the orchestral.
II. A slow movement, Andante quasi adagio, follows.
It begins as a simple song, but Bruch exhibits a mastery of form
in the wealth of elaboration with which he treats it.
The middle section provides a particularly fine contrast.
III. The main theme of the scherzo-like third movement, Vivace ma non troppo,
has a very powerful and original rhythm which carries all before it.
There are two fine trios,
the first smooth and flowing,
the second also with an unusual rhythm.
IV. The lively finale, Vivace, moves forward with great élan to conclude
what is a first rate work, particularly so for a young man of 23.
Eugéne Henri Paul Gauguin, born in Paris in 1848,
took a leading role in post-impressionism with his bold colors and primitivism.
