Reinecke Complete String Quartets

[Alan Howe]

Well, as I said, I simply disagree. Great that we can do so amicably!

[Santo Neuenwelt]

First, I would say that the Reinhold Quartet's renditions of Reinecke's string quartets leave nothing to be desired. It is a pleasure to listent to their performances. They are outstanding and do their very best to make a strong case for Carl....but

Caveat, what follows is just one man's opinion, well, perhaps those of his quartet compatriots as well. But as Zino Davidov once wrote, 'Gentlemen have the right to defend the cigar of their choice'. The same goes, I suppose, for string quartets.

I do not know how many people here, other than Steve J. have actually played these works. I have played all five, albeit, not too recently. As background, I play in two different quartet groups weekly. Our groups go after the unsungs. We have done our Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms etc. When we find an unsung that is convincing, it is sure to be rescheduled. I must report that none of the Reineckes was ever rescheduled. Why you might ask. I would say that although they are workmanlike, they are not compelling. The thematic material, though in short bursts is inventive and interesting, overall is not particularly memorable.

And then there is the issue of sounding like someone else. If you are going to sound like someone else, you had better have some really first class thematic material. Although Reinecke never studied formally with either Mendelssohn or Schumann, their influence upon him was tremendous and perhaps impossible to escape having been so close to both. Schumann used to joke, 'Oh Reinecke, he knows what I am going to write before I do.'

So, on to the quartets. No.1 is a pretty good work in parts  The opening of the first movement is indeed promising, the main theme is lovely, but soon the hand of Mendelssohn appears in the running passages over long-lined melodies. Much thrashing about to no real purpose. Subsequent themes are rather ordinary. The second movement, again, the main theme is attractive. The variations that follow are decent and Mendelssohnian. The third movement is very difficult to pull off at speed and the music, for all of its forward motion, does not really have any memorable thematic material. The finale, jovial but prosaic. You are not going to remember the themes from this.

No.2 from the opening bars the heavy had of Schumann rests upon the music. It virtually drips of Schumann but compared to Schumann it is pale, as to its melodies which are basically forgetable. Movement two is the strongest. The third movement is a nothingburger. And the finale, well my goodness, is Robert S. in the room. At times it borders on imitation. Zum schluss, it is a pleasant enough work but is that enough to make you want to program it, or play it again, when there are sooo many other deserving works to be heard?

No.3. The first movement is genial but the thematic material is thin and not very memorable. The second movement, this is the sort of music junior plays for grandma on a warm Sunday afternoon in her parlor as she sits on the sofa with its antimacassars. Sweet but totally forgetable. The third movement, perhaps the best of the lot, starts off sort of Brahmsy, promising. But its lugubrious mood in the end drags it down. The finale, lots of motion signifying nothing. No real thematic material, just a lot of running passages.

No.4  is there light at the end of the tunnel? To its credit, there is less and less Mendelssohn and Schumann but they are not entirely gone. The opening movement begins in promising fashion. Some excitement coupled with good thematic material. But the development makes a hash of things and the it is downhill from there. A noble melody clothes the opening to the second movement, but eventually developmental problems stymie Carl, a recurring problem. The scherzo which comes next again begins strongly But again compelling thematic material seems to escape the composer and he substitutes a lot of fast passage work. The opening to the finale borders on the trite and it does not improve much from there. Entirely forgetable.

No.5 The first movement, wow, is this the same composer. Well, yes it is. Reinecke was one of those rare composers who toward the ends of their lives improved tremendously. Published in the year of his death, it may have been composed twenty years before at which time he was only a young 65. Anyone familiar with his Op. 249 magnificent string trio and the Opp.264, 272, and 274 all first rate chamber works, will not be surprised by the huge improvement one finds here. The dark and brooding opening measures of the first movement immediately grab one's attention and for once Carl does not go on to spoil things. Moody, urgent and memorable, a first rate movement. The slow movement, melancholy and reflective full of sonority. The third movement is original and compelling. The finale begins with a foreboding, stately introduction. The main section jovial and upbeat is decent but a bit of a let down from the standpoint of thematic material, after the excellence of the introduction. And this is a shame. The old saying goes, the opening and closing need to be strong and memorable. Still of his five quartets this is, in my opinion, the best of the lot.

The only masterwork for strings alone which he wrote, in my opinion, is the Op.249 String Trio. To the best of my knowledge, he never wrote a string quintet, sextet or octet. Perhaps he needed a piano in his chamber music.

[Alan Howe]

An expert assessment. But I beg to differ overall. I find them much more interesting than is suggested above. Do try them for yourself - don't be put off!

[Alan Howe]

Much the same thing was said of Reinecke's VC when it was issued on CD. But I count it one of my all-time favourite VCs. If one is looking for a change from, for example, Bruch VC1, then the Reinecke of the Dietrich are fine, memorable substitutes.

[Santo Neuenwelt]

As I said in my post, what I wrote was only one man's opinion or perhaps that of his quartet compatriots with whom he played these works.

But I wonder if only listening to the works is different from listening to them after having played them. I think so. You often get a very different perspective from playing a work than from just listening to it. Of course, one could argue that perhaps the player(s) have not penetrated or properly understood the composer's intentions or have no affinity for his music....

There is another factor to consider with regards to just listening to a work---the nature of the performance. Some performers are able to take a mediocre work and make it sound magical wherein the great bulk of others cannot. Good works can usually withstand poor performances, and while listening to such may be unappetizing, the excellence of the music somehow usually shines through....

I cannot imagine a better performance of the Reinecke Quartets than that given by the Reinhold Quartet and I cannot help but think that to some extent this colors the praise his quartets are receiving.

I like Carl Reinecke very much, the man and much of his music. As to chamber music I have already mentioned and praised  the Op.249 String Trio and the Opp.264 and 274 trios, the Op.272 Piano Quartet. To these I would add the cello and violin sonatas, the Op.188 trio, the Opp.43 and 146 pieces for cello and viola and the three student or easy piano trios Op.159. But I do not think his string quartets nor for that matter his Op.34 Piano Quartet or the Op.83 Piano Quintet can be favorably compared to those works nor would I program them on a concert.

I find that there is, at least for me, so much dross in these quartets alongside several short excellent episodes and this exacerbates my overall opinion of these works. I am glad, however, for Reinecke's sake, that his quartets hold some charm for many writing here.

[Alan Howe]

Dross? Well, I love 'em. Sorry!

[Mark Thomas]

This set has languished unplayed for a few weeks but, spurred on by this debate, I listened to the second and fourth quartets today. Sad to say, I found Quartet No.2 a dull thing, amiable but unmemorable, at least at first hearing. Quartet No.4 has more to it, with much stronger thematic material in the first three movements, some atmospheric passages and even the hint of genuine emotion here and there, but unfortunately it's let down by a banal finale. I had been hoping for quality akin to the fourth quartet of that other conservative, Bargiel, whose own String Quartet No.4 has been a really welcome discovery, but on this showing the string quartet wasn't Reinecke's forté. Sorry Alan, maybe No.5 will be a revelation?

[Alan Howe]

I'm obviously in a minority here. Maybe I just have poor taste. But then I find Brahms' String Quartets heavy going - no enjoyment there at all for me. Shhhhhh - don't tell anyone: I'll take Reinecke's five over Brahms' three any day. And Reinecke's PC3 is perhaps my favourite piano concerto of all. This week, anyway.

Hopeless, I know.

[eschiss1]

Somewhat but only somewhat tangentially, I notice/am given to understand that cpo, besides recently releasing the Reinecke (works I've mentioned a few times I've wanted to hear based on the 2 I've heard, and hopefully will catch the cpo recording soon), has or will soon have the Gernsheim and Draeseke string quartets (and Gernsheim string quintets) in the can for eventual release. Among, I assume, other things. Thumbs-up to them...

[Santo Neuenwelt]

All of the Draeseke quartets as well as his quintet have been recorded. Do not know if they are still available. They could even be on Youtube...
String Quartet   No.1 in c minor, Op.27   Holderlin Quartet   CD   AK/Coburg   DR 0011
String Quartet   No.2 in e minor, Op.36   Holderlin Quartet   CD   AK/Coburg   DR 0011   
String Quartet   No.3 in c# minor, Op.66   Holderlin Quartet   CD   AK/Coburg   DR 0012   
String Quintet-   2 Cellos Op.77 in F         Acantus String Qt & Hartman CD   AK Colburg DR 0004

Gernsheim No.2 was recorded by the Mandelring Qt on an Audite CD 97.503

You can hear soundbites of all of the above at www.editionsilvertrust.com

It would, of course, be great if someone would finally get to the rest of the Gernsheim quartets, they certain deserve it.

[eschiss1]

I know that the Draeseke quartets have been recorded. The difference is, the cpo recordings might actually be widely-distributed and available. You can find the the Constanze-Quartett Salzburg in a brief documentary-of-sorts about their upcoming cycle here; they also have a video with the beginning of a movement from the C minor quartet. (In the event, of those AK/Coburg CDs I have only the (wonderful) one with the two string quintets. You omitted to mention that it contains the (very lyrical...) quintet-with-violotta in A arranged as a "normal" 2-cello string quintet, by the way.)
Similarly, while Matesic has recorded (for IMSLP) most of Gernsheim's quartets and the first of the string quintets, it is meant as no insult to him that I still look forward to the planned cycle (and to hearing the 2nd string quintet and the 4th quartet for the first time...)

But I would agree, yes, back to Reinecke
(I wonder if these 5 are all his quartets?... I have several "complete" recordings- again, eg, Gernsheim "complete"  violin sonatas- that aren't.)

[Alan Howe]

Yes, back to Reinecke, please.

[Mark Thomas]

What a relief to hear No.5, which is on an altogether higher plane than it's predecessors. There's something bloodless and academic about them and that's totally absent from this fine dramatic quartet, a work of high romanticism which seems to come from the heart, not the head. Santo has described it very well, and I won't repeat what he's written, but I do heartily recommend this quartet at least as being a very rewarding listen, which unfortunately isn't true of the other four.

[Alan Howe]

Well, I'm listening again to No.2 and I find it extraordinarily vigorous, exciting and often beautiful - with nothing academic or bloodless about it at all. Just shows how opinions can differ.

[Mark Thomas]

Doesn't it. And it's not unknown for me to change mine on re-listening...