Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7: Nicht zu rasch
2. String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7: Kraftig (nicht zu rasch)
3. String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7: MaBig, langsame Viertel
4. String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7: Mabig, heiter
5. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: Moderato
6. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: Adagio
7. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: Intermezzo. Allegro moderato
8. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: Rondo. Molto moderato

Disc 2:

1. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10: MaBig
2. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10: Sehr rasch
3. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10: Litanei
4. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10: Entrucking
5. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: Allegro molto; energico
6. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: Comodo
7. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: Largo
8. String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: Allegro

Disc 3:

1. Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4: Sehr langsam
2. Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4: (C)
3. Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4: Schwer betont
4. Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4: Sehr breit und langsam
5. Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4: Sehr ruhig
6. Phantasy For Violin With Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47
7. Ode To Napoleon Buonaparte, Op. 41

Disc 4:

1. String Trio, Op. 45: Part 1
2. String Trio, Op. 45: First Episode
3. String Trio, Op. 45: Part 2
4. String Trio, Op. 45: Second Episode
5. String Trio, Op. 45: Part 3
6. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: Leicht, zart
7. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: Langsam
8. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: Sehr langsame Viertel
9. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: Rasch, aber leicht
10. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: Etwas rasch
11. Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: Sehr langsam
12. Quintet For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Op. 26: Schwungvoli
13. Quintet For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Op. 26: Anmutig und
14. Quintet For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Op. 26: Etwas langsam.
15. Quintet For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Op. 26: Rondo

Disc 5:

1. String Quartet in D Major: Allegro molto
2. String Quartet in D Major: Intermezzo. Andantino grazioso
3. String Quartet in D Major: Andante con moto
4. String Quartet in D Major: Allegro-Presto
5. Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: Langsam-Sehr rasch
6. Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: Sehr rasch
7. Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: Viel langsamer, aber doch flieBend
8. Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: Viel langsamer
9. Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: Schwungvoli
10. Concerto For String Quartet and Orchestra: Largo-Allegro
11. Concerto For String Quartet and Orchestra: Largo
12. Concerto For String Quartet and Orchestra: Allegretto grazioso
13. Concerto For String Quartet and Orchestra: Hornpipe. Moderato

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #188937 in Music
• Released on: 2001-09-25
• Number of discs: 5
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .66 pounds

Customer Reviews

Essential recording
This is a monumental recording. It ended my search for a good performance of Schoenberg's complete string quartets. Compared for instance to the Arditti's version, which makes for a pretty "difficult" listen, hard on the ear and the brain, this one is pretty "easy". Let's not argue about the "romantic" or "modernist" points of vue which have plagued the Schoenberg issue for much too long. This boxed set is a mature rendition of some of the most essential works of the XXth century. The Schoenberg quartet provides excellent performance throughout (although their version of "Verklärte Nacht" might seem rather dark and lacking in contrast as compared to, say, the Boulez reading). This is Schoenberg beyond theory, this is, to put it simply, Schoenberg's music as Schoenberg himself might have wished to hear it. Thanks to the Schoenberg Quartet, the 21st century should see at last a vast audience starting to appreciate a body of work on a par with that of the greats which Schoenberg revered so much : Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms. Treat yourself to this one and relish in an adventure (while it still tastes like adventure).

Unbelievable Deal
To begin with, it needs to be mentioned what an incredible deal is the mp3 edition of this album. 6 DISCS of music for only $18 is a steal, especially for something like this for which there are few, mostly out of print recordings.

As for the music, I must preface this by saying that I'm not an expert on Schoenberg; but customer reviews aren't just for people who know the music inside and out. What I can say is that, before I listened to these quartets on this disc, I didn't understand the appeal of Schoenberg at all. I had listened to Boulez recordings of some of the dodecaphonic orchestral and piano recordings, and I thought they were interesting as intellectual and stylistic exercises but much less interesting as music. I've listened to these several times now, and I can genuinely say I get a lot of pleasure out of them; in fact they've become some of my favorite pieces of classical music. Obviously, everyone's tolerance for dissonance is different, and your tolerance for it needs to be basically absolute for the third and fourth quartets. But as introductions to Schoenberg, the string quartets are pretty close to perfect. There's a very clean progression of "difficulty" from one to the next, and if you can't take one yet, you can listen to the previous again, or Verklarte Nacht, which you also get in this set. If you can handle this kind of music, Schoenberg's worth learning to love, and this is your best opportunity to try.