Search - Kocian Quartet :: Ervin Schulhoff: Chamber Works, Vol.1: String Quartet No. 1 / Funf Stucke For String Quartet / String Quartet No. 0, Op. 25 / String Quartet No. 2

Brilliance

M. Friedman | New York Area | 01/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this disk a few weeks ago, and I've been listening to it almost constantly since. If he had survived the Holocaust, Erwin Schulhoff might well have become one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. As it is, the music he left behind simply underlines the tragedy of his death and the horrible waste of the Holocaust.These are brilliant quartets, played with verve and vitality. The No. 1 quartet is pure drama, drawing on Czech folk dance rhythms and tonalities. It is unquestionably modern music, but nurtured by deep folkloric roots.The No. 2 is brooding, dark and dissonant. The emotional depth is phenomenal, at times reminiscent of Beethoven's Great Fugue, at times echoing Schoenberg's third quartet.The Kcian Quartet are superb players, and they play this music as if that was what they were born to do."