MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


Buy through MusicWeb £13.50 postage paid Worldwide.

Musicweb Purchase button

Hugo KAUDER (1888-1972)
String Quartet No. 1 (1921) [23:14]
String Quartet No. 2 (1924) [17:34]
String Quartet No. 3 (1926) [15:09]
String Quartet No. 4 (1927) [15: 25]
The Euclid Quartet (Jameson Cooper and Jacob Murphy (violins); Luis Vargas (viola); Amy Joseph (cello)).
rec. 12-14 August, 12-13 November 2005, St. Bridget’s Church, Solon, Iowa.
CENTAUR CRC 2840 [71:28]


 

Hugo Kauder was born in Tobitschau, Moravia - now a part of the Czech Republic - in 1888. Self-taught as a composer, he played the viola in professional orchestras and in string quartets. He settled in the United States in the early 1940s having fled from the Nazis. He was a prolific composer with 19 string quartets weighing in amidst some three hundred other instrumental and vocal compositions. In addition to composing and teaching he was the author of a respected book on counterpoint that was published in 1960.

From the first measures of the first quartet the listener is captivated by the dense and somewhat jagged writing, and then we are quite surprised by a slow movement that is richly tonal and lush and quite beautiful. Kauder tended to write his most passionate and personal music for his own instrument, and as such, the viola gets some juicy morsels. The third movement is fugal and the interplay of melodic ideas and subtle rhythmic gestures is fascinating.

The second quartet is much more romantic, staying pretty firmly in the realm of tonality with the occasional strong dissonance thrown in for variety. Like the first quartet, it ends with a big fugue. Quartet No. 3 is fairly brief and is based on a Czech folksong. One is reminded of the music of Vaughan Williams here as Kauder makes ample use of modal harmonies and long, sweeping and imitative lines.

The fourth quartet is cast in five short movements that the composer described as "character pieces". Each movement is taut and heavily infused with modal melodies again harking to Vaughan Williams, Delius and other British "pastoral" composers.

The Euclid Quartet has a refined warm, rich tone, precise ensemble and spot-on intonation. They play with great expression, and the subtle use of gestures such as the occasional portamento - always included at the perfect moment and with impeccable good taste - makes for more than seventy minutes of thoroughly enjoyable listening. This disc was one of the more pleasant and unexpected surprises to come across the desk in a while. One can only hope that the Euclid and other performers will explore more of this composer’s work.

Kevin Sutton

 




 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.