IDAGIO | Smyth: String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 1 - Delius: String Quartet in C Minor 747313437672

Featuring

Katie Stillman
Tamaki Higashi
Carmen Flores
Leo Melvin
Villiers Quartet
Ethel Smyth

Frederick Delius

Did you know?

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Critical Reception

Ethel Smyth never received full critical acclaim during her lifetime, possibly due to gender politics in English music, and her work is only now gaining wider appreciation.

Recording & Production

This album presents the first recording of Frederick Delius's 1888 String Quartet in C minor in its original four-movement form, following the rediscovery of its lost opening movements.

Notable Performances

The Villiers Quartet gave the probable world premiere of Frederick Delius's complete 1888 String Quartet in C minor via a livestream broadcast in 2020, after the score of its lost movements reappeared at auction in 2018.

Composition History

Frederick Delius's String Quartet in C minor, featured on this album, had a troubled genesis and was seemingly abandoned after being returned unplayed, with the score of its first two movements lost for over a century.

Composer Biography

Ethel Smyth, one of the composers on this album, challenged 19th-century social norms by pursuing a professional musical career despite her parents' objections.

Cultural Impact

Ethel Smyth, a composer featured on this album, was an active suffragette whose work 'The March of the Women' became the campaign's unofficial anthem.

Performer Biography

The Villiers Quartet, the performers on this album, are the quartet-in-residence at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building at St Hilda's College, Oxford University, and are known for performing British music.