DISC: 1

1. String Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 13~I. Adagio – Allegro vivace

2. String Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 13~II. Adagio non lento

3. String Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 13~III. Intermezzo. Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto

4. String Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 13~IV. Presto – Adagio non lento

5. String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12~I. Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante

6. String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12~II. Canzonetta. Allegretto

7. String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12~III. Andante espressivo

8. String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12~IV. Molto allegro e vivace

9. String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1~I. Molto allegro vivace

10. String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1~II. Menuetto. Un poco allegretto

11. String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1~III. Andante espressivo ma con moto

12. String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1~IV. Presto con brio

More Info:

The Quatuor Van Kuijk celebrates the tenth anniversary of it’s creation and it’s sixth recording for Alpha with a complete set of Mendelssohn’s quartets, of which this is the first volume: it opens with the Quartet op.13, composed in 1827, when he was only eighteen years old. ‘A trial run? No, a masterstroke! In every movement of this first quartet, we are constantly aware that the sense of urgency is the blood that runs through it’s veins. Never before have we heard such tension maintained over an entire quartet’, writes Stéphane Goldet in the album’s booklet notes.