The Kontra Quartet, founded in 1973, became the first Danish ensemble in many years to be appointed as a State ensemble in 1989, allowing its members greater opportunities for tours and recordings.
Composer Biography
Gade became the most important figure in the Leipzig music world after Mendelssohn's death in 1847, but was forced to return to Copenhagen due to the Schleswig-Holstein conflict.
Composition History
Gade abruptly abandoned the String Quartet in F major, possibly after a chance meeting that led him to compose the concert overture Echoes of Ossian, a work that marked a turning point in his career.
Compositional Technique
Gade's early String Quartet in F major was originally conceived as a three-movement work, and is complete in that form, despite containing incomplete passages that were repetitions.
Historical Context
Niels W. Gade's lifetime coincided with Denmark's 'Golden Age,' a period that also produced renowned figures like writer Hans Christian Andersen and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.
Composition History
The String Quartet in F major ('Willkommen und Abschied') was inspired by a romantic poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, written in 1771.
Composer Biography
Niels W. Gade, born in 1817, was the son of a carpenter and instrument-maker in Copenhagen, where he first encountered music in his father's workshop.
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Paysages
Sheng: Silent Temple
Debussy & Caplet: Chamber Works
Ravel & Milhaud & Tailleferre: String Quartets
Debussy & Caplet & Fauré: String Quartets
Janácek: String Quartets & Dvorák: Piano Quintet in A - Dumka
Bax: String Quartet No. 1, Harp Quintet & Piano Quartet
Bruckner: String Quintet in F Major; Intermezzo; Rondo & String Quartet in C Minor
Chavez, C.: String Quartets Nos. 1-3 / Invencion Ii
Hétu: Complete Chamber Works for Strings
Borodin: Chamber Music
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet; Wolf: Italian Serenade
Krzysztof Meyer - String Quartet No. 9, Op. 74 (1989/90), Piano Quintet, Op. 76 [1990/91]
