The Auryn Series: Beethoven String Quartets, Vol. 2
10/9/2020, 16 Tracks, 2:21:37
Featuring
Jens Oppermann
Matthias Lingenfelder
Stewart Eaton
Andreas Arndt
Auryn Quartet
Ludwig van Beethoven
Did you know?
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Composition History
The Schuppanzigh Quartet, a group of virtuoso Viennese musicians, were permanent members of Count Rasoumovsky's household from 1808 to 1814, allowing Beethoven to tailor his music to their exceptional capabilities.
Recording & Production
This album, Volume 2 of 4 in the Auryn's Beethoven series, was recorded between 2002 and 2004 at DeutschlandRadio, Funkhaus Köln, using two Neumann M 49 microphones.
Composition History
The Opus 59 string quartets, nicknamed the "Rasoumovsky quartets," were commissioned by Count Andrey Kyrillovich Rasoumovsky, a wealthy Russian former ambassador and chamber music enthusiast living in Vienna.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Around 1802, Beethoven expressed dissatisfaction with his earlier work and declared his intention to pursue a "new direction," a guiding artistic principle throughout his creative life.
Performer Biography
The Auryn Quartet, named after an amulet from Michael Ende's "The Neverending Story," has been a leading string quartet for over two decades, winning prestigious competitions early in their career.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven incorporated Russian folk songs, or "Thèmes russes," into the first and second Opus 59 quartets as a tribute to the commissioner, Count Rasoumovsky, and to explore new compositional possibilities.
Critical Reception
An 1811 review praised Beethoven's early Opus 18 quartets as masterpieces but found his later Opus 59 and Opus 74 quartets to be filled with "astonishing and weird creatures" and a "dismal atmosphere."
