CARL NIELSEN

 

String Quartets Vol. 1

 

String Quartet in G minor, Op. 13 (1887–88/1897–98)

String Quartet in F major, Op. 44 (1919)

String Quintet in G major (1888) *

 

Tim Frederiksen (viola)

The Young Danish String Quartet / Carl Nielsen, composer, conductor

 

Carl Nielsen thrust Danish music into the 20th century, and his chamber music has a prominent position in the international repertoire. In spite of this Carl Nielsen only composed a limited number of chamber works for strings. His official oeuvre includes four string quartets with an opus number; however three of them were already composed before 1900.

 

While today it is hard to draw any great distinctions among these four Nielsen quartets in terms of popularity, it was a different matter in his own time, when the earliest, the G minor quartet, was by far the least frequently performed, while the next one, in F minor, and the last, in F major, vied for a definitive first place, probably because they both belonged to the regular repertoire of well established ensembles

 

This recording features two of his string quartets (in G minor and F major) and the only string quintet (in G major) he ever composed. All three works played a central role in Carl Nielsen's musical career, since they were major successes for the debuting composer and contributed to his initial breakthrough.

 

Recorded in the Danish Radio Concert Hall on 27-31 July, 11-13 and 19-20 August 2006.

 

Dacapo SACD 6220521