Posts Tagged ‘american’

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...

Dvorak: Cypresses & Op.106 (2013) AV2275

Antonín Dvořák: Cypresses | String Quartet No.13 in G Major, Op.106

The acclaimed Cypress String Quartet plays the cycle of miniatures, inspired by unrequited love, from which the ensemble takes its name. More than three decades after writing Cypresses, Dvořák had turned from lovesick to homesick; a masterful demonstration of the intimate conversation of chamber music, the G major Quartet is also a song of thanksgiving for the composer’s return from the US to his native land. Previous discs from the CSQ have been praised by Gramophone for the ensemble's "intoxicating and lyrical" playing and "sheer instrumental mastery."

Available February 26, 2013
on Avie Records

SAMPLES / TRACK LISTING
  • Dvorak 1 1. Cypresses - No.1 "I know that in my love" 3:29
  • Dvorak 2 2. Cypresses - No.2 "The dead heart awakes again" 2:30
  • Dvorak 3 3. Cypresses - No.3 "When your sweet glances on me fall" 2:13
  • Dvorak 4 4. Cypresses - No.4 "Our love will never reach its aim" 3:35
  • Dvorak 5 5. Cypresses - No.5 "The old letter in my book" 2:51
  • Dvorak 6 6. Cypresses - No.6 "You are my glorious rose" 1:59
  • Dvorak 7 7. Cypresses - No.7 "There lived once my sweetheart" 1:51
  • Dvorak 8 8. Cypresses - No.8 "On the shore of the brook" 2:45
  • Dvorak 9 9. Cypresses - No.9 "My dearest one" 2:33
  • Dvorak 10 10. Cypresses - No.10 "There stands an ancient rock" 2:06
  • Dvorak 11 11. Cypresses - No.11 "Nature lies peaceful in slumber and dreaming" 2:27
  • Dvorak 12 12. Cypresses - No.12 "You ask why these songs of mine" 2:47
  • Dvorak 13 13. String Quartet No.13 in G Op.106 - I. Allegro moderato 9:33
  • Dvorak 14 14. String Quartet No.13 in G Op.106 - II. Adagio ma non troppo 10:14
  • Dvorak 15 15. String Quartet No.13 in G Op.106 - III. Molto vivace 7:03
  • Dvorak 16 16. String Quartet No.13 in G Op.106 - IV. Andante sostenuto - Allegro con fuoco 10:46
Back to Discography

The American Album (2011)

Dvorak's beloved "American" Quartet and Barber's String Quartet with its famous Molto adagio central movement share the program with "Two Sketches Based on Indian Themes" by Charles Griffes. A stunning look at the American spirit from 1893-1936. Comes in a brand new shrink-wrapped digipak case including booklet insert with original liner notes written by Marc Geelhoed.

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
  • Barber 1 7. Barber: String Quartet in B Minor, Op.11 - Molto allegro e appassionato 7:45
  • Barber 2 8. Molto adagio 7:18
  • Barber 3 9. 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...