Fine Arts Quartet - Four American Quartets - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The string quartets of Beethoven are among the greatest works of their kind, but he composed other works for quartet which have been neglected. This album is dedicated to these intriguing rarities. Alongside the wild and monumental Grosse Fuge, in many ways the culmination of Beethoven's achievements in the string quartet genre, this recording further displays his mastery of counterpoint by bringing to light brilliant yet forgotten original versions of his quartets Op. 18, No. 1 and Op. 131, plus six virtually unknown miniatures, including his Preludes and Fugues. Album Tracks 1. String Quartet in F Major, Hess 32 (1st Version of String Quartet No. 1, Op. 18, No. 1) (1799) 2. String Quartet No. 14 in C Sharp minor, Op. 131 Adagio Espressivo (Early Version) (1826) 3. Prelude and Fugue in F Major, Hess 30 (1795) 4. Allegretto in B minor, Woo 210 (1817) 5. Prelude and Fugue in C Major, Hess 31 (1795) 6. Fugue in D minor, Hess 245 (Fragment) (C. 1795) 7. Solomon, HWV 67, Part I - Overture Fugue (Arr. Beethoven for String Quartet, Hess 36) (1794-95) 8. Menuett in a Flat Major, Woo 209, Hess 33 (C. 1790) 9. Grosse Fuge in B Flat Major, Op. 133 (1825)

Album Tracks 1. String Quartet No. 2 in D Major (1861) 2. Quartetto (1859) 3. String Quartet No. 1 in G minor (1859)

The legendary Fritz Kreisler and his friend Efrem Zimbalist were both ranked among the greatest violinists of their time, becoming household names in America in the 1920s. Their generation, however, regarded Eugene Ysaye as 'the master of US all'. Album Tracks 1. I. Fantasia Moderato - Allegro Moderato 2. II. Scherzo 3. III. Einleitung and Romanze Allegretto - Andante Con Moto 4. IV. Retrospection 5. I. Moderato 6. II. Con Brio 7. III. Andante Con Moto 8. IV. Allegro Di Molto 9. Harmonies Du Soir, Op. 31