Bela Bartok And Paul Hindemith

Zehetmair Quartett
Ecm Records
Classical | Aug 2007

Reviews

Craig Matsumoto
Reviewed 2008-11-16
String quartets from a couple of mid-20th Century masters.

Bartok -- Edgy, abrasive work, with some deeply quiet segments.

1- Fast, with a strong dramatic mood. Blaring, dissonant violin alarms at about the halfway point -- cool.
2- Quite slow, like placid droplets in a pond
3- Upbeat, skippy, with a dark side of course
4- Tense twittering, not that slow or dark. A playful but mysterious effect.
5- Active, tumbling, fairly fast. Some parts even have a Carl Stalling-like feel (think Warner Bros. cartoons).

Hindemith -- Nicely heavyhanded at times but without the sharp angles of the Bartok, although track 9 gets rather bold. The more directly "musical" and normal-classical of the two quartets.

6- Sad
7- Fast, tense, dire. Nice standalone track.
8- Low-key transition segment. Very quiet start.
9- Strong-handed, with an early cello solo.
10- Dramatic pulsing, another strong, declarative movement

Recent airplay

String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22, Mvt. 3 (Paul Hindemith)
Hand Wash in ColeslawJan 14, 2009
String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
Memory SelectDec 12, 2008
String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
Baptism of SolitudeDec 11, 2008
String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
public noize racketDec 06, 2008
String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
OrangeasmDec 03, 2008

Charting

2008-11-30 — 2009-02-01 Classical/Experimental
Week EndingAirplays
Jan 18 1
Dec 14 2
Dec 7 3

Track listing

1. String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
2. String Quartet No. 5, Adagio Molto (Bela Bartok)
3. String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
4. String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
5. String Quartet No. 5, Allegro (Bela Bartok)
6. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22, Mvt. 1 (Paul Hindemith)
7. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22, Mvt. 2 (Paul Hindemith)
8. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22, Mvt. 3 (Paul Hindemith)
9. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22, Mvt. 4 (Paul Hindemith)
10. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22, Mvt. 5 (Paul Hindemith)