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Arthur MEULEMANS
(1884 – 1966) String Quartet No.2 (1932) String Quartet No.3 (1933) Piano Quintet (1946)a Herman MEULEMANS (1893 – 1965) Five Piano Piecesb Stijn Kolacny (piano)a; Steven Kolacny (piano)b; Arriaga String Quartet Recorded: St. Jozefscollege, Aarschot, April 1996 PHAEDRA 92011 [57:32] |
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Arthur Meulemans, undoubtedly the most significant Flemish composer of his generation, has the lion’s share here, and deservedly so. His huge output includes fifteen symphonies, operas, many orchestral works and several concertos as well as a lot of vocal and instrumental music. His five string quartets roughly span the whole of his long and prolific composing life. His first essay (Uit mijn Leven) dates from 1907 and the Fifth String Quartet was completed in 1953. The Second and Third String Quartets (1932 and 1933 respectively) are, to a certain extent, transitional works still embedded in the early Romantic tradition but already clearly influenced by Impressionism. Both share a number of features, stylistically and formally. Both are conceived as suites of character pieces rather than as intricately worked-out compositions. There is little thematic relationship, if any, between the movements. Moreover, both are fairly light-hearted pieces of great melodic charm rather than big pieces of great depth and complexity. Both are engaging works, superbly crafted, richly melodic and beautifully written for the strings. | Error processing SSI file |
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