PRD/DSD 350 013

The composer of Prince Igor was the only member of the famous Group of Five to leave significant chamber music, made up of youthful scores reminiscent of Mendelssohn, such as the String Quintet in F minor, and two brilliant quartets, the powerful charm of the Nocturne of the 2nd Quartet too often resulting in the neglect of the Quartet No.1 in A, despite its being denser and more elaborate, with its irresistible Scherzo, so admired by Ravel and Stravinsky.

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An amateur cellist, the composer of Prince Igor was the only one of the Group of Five to have written some ten chamber works for his personal pleasure in keeping with the laws of Germanic rhetoric - to Balakirev's great displeasure. One of them is a pure masterpiece: his Quartet in D, featuring an irresistible Nocturne, which has been played round the world in various arrangements.

PRD/DSD 250 282

An unusual pairing of two masterpieces, superbly worked out—as always with Brahms. The last Quartet, Op.67, with its rough, bucolic, country ‘gaiety’, announces the pastoral Symphony No. 2, Op.73 of 1877. The Quintet, Op.34, is ‘beautiful beyond all that might be said about it. Whoever did not known it In its previous versions […] cannot suppose that the work was not originally thought out and conceived for the present instrumental combination [… ] a masterpiece of chamber music such as we are unable to designate any other since the death of Schubert. Nothing of this level has been heard since 1828’ (dixit Hermann Levi)…the year of Schubert’s Quintet in C, D 956.

PRD/DSD 250 220

Written more than 15 years apart, these two scores, juxtaposed here for the first time, successively illustrate the somewhat morose ‘Nordic’ inspiration of the composer of Ein deutsches Requiem, then a more intimate poetic feeling, and finally a communicative serenity, the headiness of a ‘Hungarian’ dance in the Quartet, a sort of wild csárdás with quasi-orchestral force in the coda of the Quintet.

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An uncommon pairing of two essential chamber scores by the composer of Ein deutsches Requiem: the first, heroic and rigorous, nurtured at length so as to achieve and surpass the heritage of Beethoven’s ‘Razumovskys’; the other, a warm, intense and sumptuous dialogue between the woodwind and strings sublimating his last dreams and confidences, coming to an end with intimate exchanges between the clarinet and cello, ‘as if the instruments were in love with each other’.

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LES CYPRÈS B 152, VERSION INTEGRALE POUR QUATUOR A CORDES (1887) D'APRÈS DOUZE MÉLODIES DE JEUNESSE B 11

/5/ Já vím, že v sladké naději/I know that on my love to thee/Ich weiß, daß meiner Lieb'zu dir/Je sais que sur la foi de mon amour pour toi [moderato]

/6/ V tak mnohém srdci mrtvo jest/Death reigns in many a human breast/La mort règne en plus d'un cœur humain [allegro ma non troppo]

/7/ V té sladké moci očí tvých/When thy sweet glances on me fall/Im süßen Bann von deinem Blick/Sous le doux empire de tes yeux [andante con moto]

/8/ O, naší lásce nekvete to vytoužené štěsti/Never will love lead us to that happy goal/Wird doch die Liebe nie zu frohem Ziel uns leiten/Jamais l'amour ne nous conduira au bonheur ardemment poursuivi [poco adagio]

/9/ Zde hledím na tvůj drahý list/The old letter in my book/Im Buch verwahrt, der alte Brief/Cette lettre d'autrefois, conservée entre les pages de mon livre [andante]

/10/Ó, zlatá růže spanilá/You are my glorious rose/Du, Rose, stehst in Herrlichkeit/O toi, glorieuse rose [andante moderato]

/11/Kol domu se teď potácím/I wander oft past yonder house/I schleich'um jenes Haus herum/J'erre, attristé, autour de ta maison [andante con moto]

/12/Zde v lese u potoka/In deepest forest glade I stand/Im tiefen Walde steh'ich hier/Au coeur de la forêt profonde [lento]

/13/Ó, duše drahá, jedinká/Thou only dear one, but for thee/Du einzig Teure, nur für dich/Mon unique amour, c'est pour toi seule [moderato]

/14/Tam stojí stará skála/There stands an ancient crag/Der alte Felsen steht dort/Ici s'élève le vieux rocher escarpé [andante maestoso]

/15/Nad krajem vévodí lehký spánek/Nature lies peaceful in slumber and dreams/Rings die Natur nun im Schlummer u.Traümen/Tout autour la nature repose, s'abandonnant au sommeil et aux rêves [allegro scherzando]

/16/Ty se ptáš, proč moje zpěvy/You ask why my songs/Und fragst du mich, warum mein Sang/Tu me demandes pourquoi mes chants [allegro animato]

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