Composer: Henri Marteau
Performer: Jean-Michel Charlier, Isasi Quartet
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: CPO
Catalogue: 555129-2
Release: 2020
Size: 309 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
String Quartet No. 1 in D-Flat Major, Op. 5
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivo
03. IIIa. Largo e rondo. Religioso ed espressivo
04. IIIb. Largo e rondo. Moderato e grazioso
Clarinet Quintet in C Minor, Op. 13
05. I. Andante molto sostenuto
06. II. Allegretto moderato
07. III. Andante sostenuto
08. IV. Finale. Andante sostenuto
FonoForum termed Vol. 1 in our series with Henri Marteau’s works for string quartet »a highly welcome addition to the as yet much too small Marteau discography.« At long last we now are following up with Vol. 2, which includes the Clarinet Quintet op. 13 ranking as his best-known work and the String Quartet No. 1. In his first quartet Marteau presents an ambitious work in which he explores how to bring his personal style into harmony with this genre. He draws on German and French Romantic tradition and on his great models from music history and experiments with compositional-technical forms and structural elements. To date, not a single renowned quartet ensemble has risen to the challenge of recording this work, and in the concert literature it is also practically not at all represented. It is hardly a coincidence that Marteau had the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms very much in mind when he wrote his Clarinet Quintet op.13. From the very beginning Mozart and Brahms played an important role in his career. Here too the Belgian clarinetist Jean-Michel Charlier and the Isasi Quartet show Marteau’s French and German sound worlds in perfect harmony.