MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

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

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


Support us financially by purchasing this from

Ernst Helmuth FLAMMER (b. 1949)
Voyage éternel de l’oiseau de feu – Eternal Journey of the Firebird (String Quartet No. 4) (1996/1997) [57:18]
Abschiede – Farewells (String Quartet No. 5) (2002) [17:33]
Jade Quartett (Hanlin (Annelie) Lang, violin, Hyun Ji (Lisa) You, violin, Igor Michalski, viola, Shih Yu (Gina) You, cello)
rec. Hans-Rosbaud-Studio, SWR Baden-Baden, Germany, May 2016
NEOS 11618 SACD [74:53]

Even for a diehard fan of string quartets like me, the two works presented here form a significant challenge. The German composer Ernst Helmuth Flammer eschews the traditional concept of a string quartet, opting instead for multi-movement and multi-faceted ideal instead.

Ernst Helmuth Flammer, born in Heilbronn, originally studied maths and physics, before changing his area of study to music in 1975. He studied Counterpoint and theory with Peter Förtig, and composition with Klaus Huber and Brian Fernyhough at Freiburg. This is the third disc of his music released by the Munich-based label NEOS.

The disc opens with the fifty-seven-minute long Fourth String Quartet. It is divided into eighteen short sections, which can themselves be divided into movements. The music is difficult, as it forgoes traditional melodic structures for a more intense rhythmic integrity. Short, almost mathematical phrases rather than recognisable tunes, which are not everyone’s cup of tea. Even so, the progression of notes and rhythms make, if the listener is open to such music, an almost mesmeric work.

The Fifth Quartet of some five years later follows the model of the Fourth. It is a shorter work, only seven sections, and lasts less than a third of the length of its predecessor. This makes it a bit more approachable than the Fourth, as does the more identifiable note progression that Flammer employs here. As the title of the work suggests, this is about farewells. A poem printed in the booklet repeatedly refers to Anton Webern: “Farewells for Anton Webern”, “A tribute to Anton Webern”, “Farewells for the Anton Webern Quartet”. But Flammer’s music is no mere slavish homage to Webern. Rather—like Friedrich Cerha, whose string quartets have been recorded on NEOS 11217—he offers a development of Webern’s musical ideal into something new.

The playing of the Jade Quartett is excellent. This is much-nuanced music. You have the feeling that they get everything that they possibly can out of it. The sound from the hybrid Super Audio CD is helpful, as every note rings true. I found the booklet essay, by Flammer himself, a little too in-depth and technical, but helpful in his descriptions of the works.

Stuart Sillitoe

 

 



Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos 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