Mendelssohn / Saguenay - String Quartets - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Edition ZKM is dedicated to productions from the ZKM-Institute for Music and Acoustics. The institute is part of the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany, (ZKM) which also includes the Museum for Contemporary Art, the Media Museum, a Media Library and the Institute for Visual Media. Guest artists from all over the world are invited to work in the music studios to realize specific projects. The projects, ranging from digital synthesis and algorithmic composition to the integration of live electronics, from radio art to sound installation, encompass a broad spectrum of that locus where digital technology stimulates musical fantasy.

Swedish singer, musician, guitarist and songwriter Pugh Rogefeldt made his big breakthrough in the late 1960's with his debut album, InchJeñ, deñ, eñ, deñ,Inch released in 1969 which contains the well known Swedish hits InchHere Comes the Night (Haer Kommer Natten)Inch and InchTell the Dusty Skies (Sma Laetta Moln).Inch Unlike other Swedish pop acts who were trying to achieve international recognition, Rogefeldt always wrote and sang his songs in Swedish. He made several albums during the 1970's and 80's which spawned a consistent string of hits and is still a well known figure in his native Sweden. Copies of Pugh's debut album on vinyl commands high dollar on the international collector's market, particularly among collectors of rare psychedelia. Finally available in the US in the digital domain, all selections have been newly remastered.

Alongside it's ongoing and much lauded Haydn and Schubert series, both on-stage and on-record, the Doric String Quartet with this Mendelssohn album is adding a new milestone in it's repertoire. Mendelssohn wrote and published these three quartets at very different stages in his life and they therefore outline the complete trajectory of his creative output. The early Op. 12, also called No. 1, was composed in London and includes many musical allusions to Beethoven, dead only a few years before it's composition. These subtly contrast with Mendelssohn's genially flowing energy. While Op. 44 No. 3, which incorporates many deft variations, developments, and combinations, follows an extended honeymoon tour and Mendelssohn's twenty-ninth birthday, Op. 80 emerged from a bout of helpless depression after the sudden death of Mendelssohn's older sister and confidante, Fanny. Mendelssohn described this quartet as a Requiem, and the nervous agitation often found in his music here bursts forth with full force. Resignation, agitation, and nostalgia shape the work, the almost shocking finality of which may be said to prefigure Mendelssohn's own death only six months later.