Prism V

Danish String Quartet

Released on 14-04-2023 by ECM New Series
Main artists: Danish String Quartet
Genre: Klassiek

Digital booklet

Available in

16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

The Danish String Quartet's Prism V is the last in a series of "Prism" releases, each presenting one of Beethoven's five late string quartets, prefaced by a Bach work that could have been a source for some of Beethoven's thematic material, and followed by a more contemporary work. The idea is a promising one, for Beethoven indisputably made a deep study of Bachian counterpoint in his later years, and several releases in the series have been revelatory. The finale seems to offer an attractive symmetry; the opening Bach work is the Chorale Prelude, BWV 668 ("Vor deinem Thron tret' ich"), which was published with The Art of Fugue and was Bach's last completed composition, and the program proceeds with Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, Beethoven's final full piece. The thematic links in this case are a bit hazier than on the other albums, and making the Beethoven quartet sound Bach-inspired takes quite a bit of effort on the players' parts; the rough humor of the work is shoved to the background. This said, the performance of the Beethoven quartet itself is up to the Danish Quartet's usual very high standard; it is an unorthodox but absorbing reading with great control and detail. Anton Webern's youthful and ultra-Romantic String Quartet of 1905, not often heard, is another attraction here. The program ends with the unfinished final fugue of Bach's The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, breaking off in mid-measure as if to suggest that there is more on the way from this superb group. Admirers of the Danish String Quartet's series will be satisfied with this release, and indeed, they put it on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo

More info

Prism V

Danish String Quartet

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From 13,50€/month

Vor deinen Thron tret' ich, Chorale Prelude, BWV 668 (Arr. for String Quartet)

00:04:56

Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Markus Heiland, Mixer, Mastering Engineer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Manfred Eicher, Producer - Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Danish String Quartet, String Quartet, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Frederik Øland, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Asbjørn Nørgaard, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, Cello, AssociatedPerformer

℗ 2023 ECM Records GmbH

String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135 (Ludwig van Beethoven)

I. Allegretto