![]() ![]() Often the artists themselves neither wish nor the have time to explore and prepare new works which bear the risk of being poorly received. Sometimes the fault lies with the sponsoring organization which requests the old chestnuts. Common wisdom has it that only the well-known or famous works will fill the concert hall. One common scapegoat often cited is the demand of the Box Office. In talking with professional players over many years, I have heard a num- ber of explanations put forward. There are several reasons for this sad state of affairs. If a work from the 20th century is to be presented, it will almost certainly be by Bartok or Shostakovich or perhaps a living composer who has had a work commissioned by the quartet performing it. In the Romantic era, the choices are almost always a work by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Dvorak or Brahms. ![]() And Beetho- ven held the works of Wranitzky in the highest regard. Con- temporaries regarded the quartets of Krommer and Woelfl the equal and in some cases superior to those of Haydn. More importantly, never does one get to hear, to name but three important classical era composers, a quar- tet by Franz Krommer, Joseph Woelfl or Paul Wranitzky, all of whom wrote several string quartets which deserve to be played in concert or at the very least in homes of amateur enthusiasts. Yet No.1 which is as fine or finer than the those two almost never gets a concert outing. As for Beethoven’s so called early quartets, the Op.18, Nos 4 and 6 are the two which receive regular outings. At least, it can be said that these are his best. As for Mo- zart, the situation is the same-the Dissonant K.465, the Hoff- meister K.499 and the three Prussian Quartets K.574, 589 and 590 are those which get performed. Now a nd then, another work slips in, but it is a rare occasion. From Haydn’s 83 quartets, of which at least 20 deserve to be heard, only a few are regularly performed-those with nick- names such as the Joke Op.33 No.2, the Bird Op.33 No.3, the Frog Op.50 No.6, the Razor Op.55 No.2, the Lark Op.64 No.5, the Quinten, the Emperor, and the Sunrise, Opp.76 Nos 2-4 re- spectively. From the Classical era, I can almost guarantee that the work pre- sented will be by Haydn, Mozart or early Beethoven. The typical quartet concert will consist of a work from the classi- cal era, the early or mid Romantic era and one from either the late Romantic or early mid 20th century. This be- ing the case, there is, in my opinion, no excuse for presenting the same few works over and over again in concert, while ignoring literally hundreds of first class quartets that deserve to be heard. As far as chamber music con- certs go, most of them are by string quartet ensembles. It is unfortunate that today's concert-goer is presented with the same works over and over again. However, this guide is by no means a mere com- pilation or an encyclopaedia of works, nor is it an academic trea- tise which analyses how a composer actually wrote his music. Wider world of chamber music, most of which in my experience, is virtually unknown to professional musicians as well as the listening public. ![]()
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