Juon String Quartets vol.1

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from cpo:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/paul-juon-saemtliche-streichquartette-vol-1/hnum/4111640
(2 CDs)

[Mark Thomas]

Hmm, bearing in mind the slim pickings offered by the recent orchestral CDs from Sterling, I shall be reading the reviews of this offering very carefully before I invest.

[semloh]

I suppose these (assuming a Vol.2 is also in the pipeline) are CPO's follow-ups to the Sextet and Quintet coupling. Maybe the trios and so on next?

BTW, Amazon advertises a 2CD set of four string quartets by Juon, on the "Musiques Suisses" label, but I can't make out who the performers are.

Mark, are you wary about the quality of the music or the performances?

[Mark Thomas]

Oh, the music itself. I'm afraid that I found Juon's orchestral music on the two Sterling CDs to be derivative and often quite tedious. Admittedly they were early works, which is why I shall read the reviews of this latest offering with care, Hope springs eternal,  but cautiously.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Semloh - The Qt on the Musiques Suisses recording of the 4 Juon quartets is the Niziol Quartett. Founded by Bartek Niziol who plays Vn1 and hence an ensemble to be reckoned with. In my view they provide distinguished performances but that shouldn't stop anyone from looking forward to exploring whatever CPO provides. After all the Juon chamber works are far more rewarding than the orchestral music.

[Alan Howe]

I've ordered the set, so we'll see...

[eschiss1]

Didn't even know he wrote 4 quartets; I'm only aware of 3...

[Alan Howe]

They are apparently Opp. 5, 11, 29, 67.

[eschiss1]

Ah ok. As far as I know, Opp. 5, 29 and 67 (in D-modal or D minor without a key signature- or- something) are numbered, and Op.11 is just "String Quartet in B minor" (not even sure if it was published during the composer's lifetime, or when...)
Thanks

[Wheesht]

According to the Juon Society op. 11 is only in manuscript, held by the Lausanne University Library.

[eschiss1]

Ah, thanks. Probably says so at the Juon website, I should have thought to check. (Wish they included composition dates rather than publication dates for his works, though; it's fairly clear it's the latter, since they mention premieres that occur -before- the dates-no-description-given that they do give, which however iirc match fairly closely with known dates of first publication...)

[Alan Howe]

First impressions: nice stuff (Op.5), but a word of warning: the booklet notes are absolute guff - at least as translated by a certain well-known individual often used by cpo. When, oh when are they going to employ an English-speaker to do this job properly? I would be embarrassed to take the money for such sub-par work.   

[Alan Howe]

The B minor String Quartet Op,11 is very enjoyable indeed. It's entirely untypical of Juon's mature style, but its straightforward, lush, but lively late-romantic idiom is extremely enjoyable. Excellent performances and sound on this release too.

[Herbert Pauls]

Alan, about the translations, I agree wholeheartedly that they should be done by a native English speaker. But even if they are, it is still notoriously difficult to make the text sound smooth. For me (I have done about 60 booklets for another German label), a lot depends on how well the German is written. If the thoughts connect smoothly and logically, it becomes much easier. One also has to stand back from one's work for a few days and then rewrite it all. And maybe even do that a couple more times if one can (although one does not always have the opportunity, unfortunately...)

[FBerwald]

Is the original german text by Eckhardt van den Hoogen and translation by the faithful  Susan Marie Praeder? I ask because when I open any cpo booklet, I always check for the author of the German text and if it is by the famous Herr Hoogen, than I usually avoid the booklet altogether. His text, obviously and the translation, usually diverts you in a completely different direction (if direction it can be called!) from the music.