Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major & Walton: Sonata for Strings
1/1/2008, 8 Tracks, 54:26
Featuring
Candida Thompson
Amsterdam Sinfonietta
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sir William Walton
Did you know?
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Compositional Technique
Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 135 is unusually abstract for its time, featuring unconventional modulations, recitative-like passages, and a structure built more from motives and intervals than melodies.
Composition History
Sir William Walton's Sonata for Strings is an arrangement of his 1947 A minor string quartet, suggested by Sir Neville Marriner in 1971.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 135 includes a subtitle, 'Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß' (The weighty decision), and musical mottos 'Muß es sein?' and 'Es muß sein!', which originated from a satirical canon.
Recording & Production
During the recording sessions, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta focused on dynamic levels and giving different colors to various motives to achieve maximum expression.
Composition History
Walton collaborated with his friend, composer Malcolm Arnold, on the arrangement of his string quartet into the Sonata for Strings, with Arnold arranging the final movement under Walton's supervision.
Performer Biography
The Amsterdam Sinfonietta, led by artistic director Candida Thompson, is an ensemble of 23 string players that performs chamber works and compositions for string orchestra.
Interpretation
The Amsterdam Sinfonietta maintains a small size, conceived as a string quintet, to preserve the intimate character of works by composers like Walton and Beethoven.
