Search - viola" Ariel Rudiakov, cello Ann Kim, Equinox String Quartet :: Saint-Saens String Quartets (2) Ops. 112 and 153

Forgotten music...

Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo | Boston, MA USA | 09/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't understand why a lot of Saint-Saens music has been essentially swept under the rug. I get the feeling that there are two reasons; 1) Saint-Saens was a bit of an anachronism, writing these truly Romantic-era style quartets into the mid-1910's; and 2)while a full-blown Romantic, he did not necessarily adhere to the Sonata form, with the exception of his most famous works, i.e. Piano Concertos 2 and 4, Symphony No. 3, Violin Conerto No.3, and Cello Concerto No.1, along with a few others. Unfortunately, as a result of this, musical purists have essentially excluded almost all of his works from the standard repetoire, and therefore beautiful music like this goes unnoticed.

Don't get me wrong; I love the quartets of the masters, like Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schubert and the like; but these quartets in my opinion stand with some of the formers' masterworks. Saint-Saens was a musical prodigy who could play all of Beethoven's piano sonatas by the age of 8; and while he often broke the rules musically speaking, he shouldn't be punished for it. (re: Wagner).

The performances couldn't be better. The musicians easily tackle his demanding scores and bring the music the breath of life it needs. The second quartet is wonderful - it is in e Minor - I think I prefer it to the first. The opening leads you into a lovely, melodic allegro which is full of polyphonics (he was obsessed with fugue, thus his nickname "the French Mendelssohn") and wonderful harmonies. The second movement contains a great string fugue - anyone who likes late Beethoven quartets will definitely want to hear this. the slow movement is beautiful, and the finale is amazing, with a bombastic ending. The G Major quartet more closely adheres to classical sonata sound, if not form ; in spite of this "shortcoming",it is also a lovely piece with a lot of memorable melodies. I don't really want to write a full review of every track, but suffice it to say that this album is worth picking up. Saint-Saens is mostly forgotten, but these pieces deserve their place."