Bridge Quartet - Arnold Cooke: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 2 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The music of the Yorkshire-born Arnold Cooke (1906-2005) - inventively contrapuntal, lyrical and energetic in turns - does not deserve the neglect it suffered even in it's composer's lifetime. This second album of two presenting all five of Cooke's string quartets underlines his reputation for resourceful craftsmanship, presented in a style which sits downstream from Hindemith, with whom he studied in Berlin, and from Bartok. There is also a surprisingly strong dance element in all three works heard here, though tempered, even in their lighter moments, by something of the emotional reticence of Britten's quartets. Album Tracks 1. String Quartet No. 4~I. Allegro 2. String Quartet No. 4~II. Scherzo Molto allegro 3. String Quartet No. 4~III. Adagio 4. String Quartet No. 4~IV. Allegro vivace 5. Variations on an Original Theme~Theme Allegretto semplice 6. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 1 L'istesso tempo - 7. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 2 Più agitato - 8. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 3 9. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 4 Lento e tranquillo 10. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 5 Vivace 11. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 6 Canon. Andante 12. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 7 Scherzo. Allegro molto 13. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 8 Andante con moto 14. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 9 Più lento - 15. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 10 Alla marcia 16. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 11 Adagio ma non troppo 17. Variations on an Original Theme~Variation 12 Fuga. Allegro 18. String Quartet No. 2~I. Adagio - Allegro moderato 19. String Quartet No. 2~II. Scherzo. Allegro 20. String Quartet No. 2~III. Andante 21. String Quartet No. 2~IV. Molto allegro