Draeseke String Quartet No.3 etc.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Quite. If it is a waste of time "creating and developing tunes that people could hum" that's Schubert (who found it difficult NOT to write a tune) condemned and kicked ignominiously onto the rubbish heap. Really, the utter tripe some supposedly intelligent people write!

[eschiss1]

This seems like an excellent place where I'd otherwise -expect- someone to say "back to the music".

[Gareth Vaughan]

Point taken, Eric.

[Alan Howe]

It'd be interesting to hear from members who have heard the new CD...

[Alan Howe]

From Edition Silvertrust:

Felix Draeseke. "Draeseke was a musician whose works, even in his lifetime, received far fewer performances than they deserved in view of their high artistic value. His Third String Quartet dates from 1899. The first movement, Andantino elegiaco, expresses sadness which is at times interrupted by stormy episodes. The second movement, Scherzo, allegro spumante, lives up to its title, while the trio, with its easy tunefulness, provides a soothing contrast. A very expressive slow movement, Adagio non tanto, which is tinged with melancholy comes next. Before the finale, Draeseke inserts a graceful Intermezzo. The finale, Allegro risoluto, begins in a powerful, almost harsh fashion, while the second theme is a lovely cantabile melody."
—The famous chamber music critic Wilhelm Altmann writing in his Chamber Music Handbook.

Felix Draeseke (1835-1913) was born in the German city of Coburg. He began composing at an early age and subsequently entered the famous Leipzig Conservatory where he studied composition with Julius Rietz and piano with Ignaz Moscheles. However, his musical outlook was shaped and influenced by the so-called New German School of which Liszt and Wagner were the leading proponents. He held a number of teaching positions in Switzerland and Germany, eventually settling in the city of Dresden and a few years later began teaching at the Dresden Conservatory. He wrote in nearly every genre and his works were frequently performed during his lifetime. Liszt was a champion of many of Draeseke's compositions and helped them gain publication.
https://www.earsense.org/chamber-music/Felix-Draeseke-String-Quartet-No-3-in-c-sharp-minor-Op-66/?ri=0&rq=q%3DFelix%2BDraeseke%252C%2B%26lid%3D-1%26p%3D1%26rc%3D17

[semloh]

I think this exceprt from the review in December Gramophone is worth copying here.

The arresting opening of the Third String Quartet immediately alerts us that something interesting is afoot, with a beguiling, wistful, songlike little melody that fragments fairly quickly and meanders down various paths. The Constanze Quartet offer some impressive and committed playing here, with shimmering textures, singing and soaring melodic lines, poignant pulsating heartbeats in the inner parts and an expressive use of vibrato, withholding or intensifying it in response to the moment at hand.
...the performers and production team have unarguably captured an expansive, luscious and very live soundscape, one full of energy and dedication that leaves us wanting to hear more.
Amy Blier-Carruthers