Presented by Leo Samama.
Ernst Toch (1887-1964) – String quartet no.8 in D-flat major, opus 18 (1910)
- Langsam, 2. Lebhaft
Performers: Verdi Quartet
CD: CPO
Max Reger (1873-1916) – String quartet in F-sharp minor opus 121 (1911)
- Allegro espressivo, 2. Vivace, 3. Adagio, 4. Allegro con spirito
Performers: Berner Streichquartett
CD: CPO
Anton Webern (1883-1945) – Drei Stücke für Streichquartett (1913)
- Bewegt, 2. Langsam “Schmerz immer Blick nach oben”, 3. Nicht zu langsam
Performers: Emerson String Quartet and MaryAnn McCormick, mezzo soprano
CD: DGG
Today we feature three works from 1910, 1911 and 1913. We start off with Ernst Toch, who in his own words ‘didn’t study with anyone […] I was left to my own devices, and in the end I managed to develop my studies entirely as an autodidact.’ After winning the Mozart Prize in 1909, he started composing like crazy. It is therefore not surprising that he wrote his Eighth String Quartet at the age of twenty-three! The result is beautiful music: expressive, well thought-out and self-assured.
Whereas Ernst Toch was more or less at the start of his career in 1910, Max Reger was entering the final phase of his musical development. It was a time when he had left behind the exuberance of earlier works and had begun to write not only more economically, but also more intimately and introspectively.
We conclude this programme with a contrast from three ultra-short pieces by Anton Webern. Barely two and a half minutes of music, which is no less intimate and intense than the music by Max Reger.
