#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalQuartet Week 5
April is the fourth month of the year. And so the Classics a Day team decided to make classical quartets this month’s theme. One could easily fill up a month of postings with nothing but great string quartets. But I decided to explore further.
A piano trio is made up of four musicians. So is a vocal quartet, a percussion quartet, a brass quartet, and so on. I decided to seek out some of the more unusual quartet compositions. And while I do include some string quartets, they’re not written by the usual suspects.
Here are my #Classicsaday selections for the fifth and final week of #ClassicalQuartet
04/27/20 Elfrida Andree (1841-1929): Piano Quartet in A minor
This Swedish composer and organist studied with Neils Gade. Many of her compositions are keyboard-centric, including this 1870 piano quartet.
04/28/20 Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) Sonata for Four Horns
Hindemith’s quartet is a neo-Baroque composition. But while the music looks back to the 1790s, it’s also music impossible to play on valveless horns of the period.
04/29/20 Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936): Saxophone Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 109
Glazunov completed this quartet in 1932, one of his last compositions. At the same time, it was one of the earliest saxophone quartets.
04/30/20 Arnold Schoenberg String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7
Schoenberg asked for help composing this 1897 quartet. He consulted with Alexander Zemlinksy, who showed a draft to Johannes Brahms. Brahms thought it was OK.
