Thomas Christian Ensemble - Julius Bittner: String Quartets 1 & 2 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

A good year younger than Max Reger and five months older than Arnold Schonberg, Vienna's Julius Bittner (1874-1939) earned his livelihood as a lawyer for many years. Even before he gave up this profession in 1922, he was already one of the most frequently performed opera composers in Austria. In particular, his one-act opera Das hollisch Gold (Hellish Gold), which premiered in 1916, was highly acclaimed, and several of his instrumental works were also well received - even though (or perhaps because) he was anything but a Inchpioneer composerInch. His music was rooted in melody. He had broken free from Wagner's influence and became interested in folk music as exemplified by his two string quartets (1913 and 1917) with their InchpastoralInch flair. The former especially seems like the InchMahler of chamber musicInch in several passages, possibly a posthumous homage to his one-time supporter who guided Bittner's talent in the right direction. Album Tracks 1. String Quartet No. 1 in a Major-Leicht Bewegt 2. String Quartet No. 1 in a Major-Getragen, Sehr Ruhig 3. String Quartet No. 1 in a Major-Nicht Zu Rasch 4. String Quartet No. 1 in a Major-Rasch, Lebhaft 5. String Quartet No. 2 in E Flat Major-Leicht Bewegt 6. String Quartet No. 2 in E Flat Major-Sehr Ruhig Und Gehalten 7. String Quartet No. 2 in E Flat Major-Gemütlich, Nicht Rasch 8. String Quartet No. 2 in E Flat Major-Gemächlich