The American Album (2013) AV2304

The Cypress String Quartet debuted on AVIE with a recording of their namesake work, Dvořák’s “Cypresses” coupled with the composer’s expansive G major Quartet, No. 13 (AV 2275), “a lovely performance,” according to International Record Review. The Czech composer features again in the ensemble’s American Album with his beloved “American” Quartet, which shares the program with Barber’s String Quartet, featuring the famous Adagio central movement,”Two Sketches Based on Indian Themes” by Charles Griffes, and the single-movement Lento assai by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Kevin Puts. This recording is a stunning appreciation of the American spirit from 1893 to the present. - See more at: www.avie-records.com

SAMPLES / TRACK LISTING
  • Dvorak 1 1. Dvorak: String Quartet No.12 in F Major, Op.96 "American" - Allegro ma non troppo 8:58
  • Dvorak 2 2. Lento 6:19
  • Dvorak 3 3. Molto vivace 3:43
  • Dvorak 4 4. Vivace ma non troppo 5:26
  • Griffes 1 5. Griffes: Two Sketches Based on Indian Themes - Lento e mesto 6:29
  • Griffes 2 6. Allegro giocoso 3:32
  • Puts 7. Kevin Puts: Lento Assai 12:44
  • Barber 1 8. Barber: String Quartet in B Minor, Op.11 - Molto allegro e appassionato 7:45
  • Barber 2 9. Molto adagio 7:18
  • Barber 3 10. Molto allegro (come prima) - Presto 2:14
Reviews

Examiner.com
11/16/2011
by Stephen Smoliar, Classical Music Examiner

Last week saw the release by the Cypress String Quartet (violins Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, viola Ethan Filner, and cello Jennifer Kloetzel) of their latest CD on their own label. The recording is entitled The American Album; and it provides three markedly different perspectives on what we might call “American” music from three decidedly different eras of our country’s history. What makes those perspectives interesting, however, is that each of them has its own form of European connection. Read more...