Composer: Kalevi Aho
Performer: Stenhammar Quartet
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2609
Release: 2024
Size: 1.11 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
String Quartet No. 2
01. I. Adagio
02. II. Presto
03. III. Adagio
String Quartet No. 3
04. I. Vivace
05. II. Andante
06. III. Presto
07. IV. Allegro non troppo
08. V. Presto
09. VI. Meno mosso
10. VII. Adagio
11. VIII. Allegretto
String Quartet No. 1
12. I. Moderato
13. II. Andante – Vivace – Andante
14. III. Presto
15. IV. Andante
Finnish composer Kalevi Aho has produced a considerable and varied body of work that continues to grow rapidly. Aho first tackled the genre of string quartet at the very beginning of his composing career, more than fifty years ago, and has only recently returned to it. Aho was only 18 when he completed his String Quartet No. 1 in 1967. Self-taught at the time, Aho took his inspiration from the essentially tonal music he played on the violin or heard on the radio. The Second Quartet was composed in 1970, during his second year of studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Einojuhani Rautavaara and uses fugue technique in each of its movements. The first performance of the quartet received excellent reviews and marked a minor breakthrough for Aho as a composer. The Third Quartet dates from the following year and marks the end of Aho’s studies with Rautavaara. In this work Aho’s personal language begins to emerge, although the influence of Shostakovich can also be heard. The work was a great success and has been performed more often than any of his other chamber compositions. The three string quartets are performed here by the Stenhammar Quartet, one of Scandinavia’s leading string quartets, whose extensive repertoire gives prominence to contemporary music from the Nordic countries.