NORTHERN LIGHTS - John Casken - robert Saxton - Judith Weir - KREUTZER QUARTET

ID: MSV28507 (EAN: 809730850721)  | 1 CD | DDD
Released in: 2008

LABEL:

METIER

Subcollection:

String instruments

Composers:

CASKEN, John | SAXTON, Robert | WEIR, Judith

Ensembles:

Kreutzer String Quartet

Other info:

The three composers featured on this CD are in themselves leading lights of the contemporary music scene in the UK, and their works (of which these are first recordings) very fine examples of the modern string quartet, all extremely accessible.

tracks:John Casken:String Quartet no. 2
Judith Weir:String Quartet
Robert Saxton:Songs, Dances and Ellipses

The Kreutzer Quartet has forged an enviable reputation as one of the Europe’s most dynamic and innovative string quartets. The ‘Independent’ newspaper summed up their playing as ‘Passion, Grace and Steel…’.
They are the dedicatees of numerous works, and over many years forged creative partnerships with composers including Sir Michael Tippett, David Matthews, Michael Finnissy, Judith Weir, and Haflidi Hallgrimsson. They have a particularly strong relationship to a cross-section of leading American composers, having collaborated intensively with the great George Rochberg in the last few years of his life, as long as working closely with figures as Elliott Schwartz, and the prolific symphonist Gloria Coates.
As recording artists they have won critical acclaim for their discs on the Naxos, Metier, and Chandos labels. Their work in collaboration with art galleries has garnered much attention, and large audiences, particularly their annual residency at the Tate Gallery, St Ives. In 2008 they appeared at several Festivals including the Venice Biennale, and the Montpelier Festival. They are ‘Artists in association’ at York University. The performers on this CD are Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin), Gordon MacKay (violin), Bridget Carey (viola), and Neil Heyde (cello).
Of the works presented here there are no other recordings of the Casken and Saxton pieces, and at the recording of these, the composers were present, so it can be assumed they are precisely what the composers actually envisaged when writing the works.

The Kreutzer Quartet includes:

Peter Sheppard Skærved (Violin)
Mihailo Trandafilovski and previously Gordon MacKay (Violin)
Morgan Goff and previously Bridget Carey (Viola)
Neil Heyde (Cello)

“The range of worthwhile issues on the Divine Art label continues to expand with this outstanding release of three relatively recent string quartets by British composers. The most important work here is that by Robert Saxton... utterly compelling in its strength and sheer passion. The performances, in the absence of scores, seem very fine and totally committed, and the recording quality is excellent. Very strongly recommended.” - Robert Matthew-Walker (Musical Opinion)

“John Casken's quartet stands out on an excellent disc...touch and timbre beautifully captured by the Kreutzer Quartet.” - Andy Hamilton (The Wire)

“The Kreutzer Quartet's strong performances reveals [the three works' powerful individuality. Casken's quartet certainly adds up to an impressive whole, as does, in a very different way, Judith Weir's. Robert Saxton's quartet is perhaps a slightly tougher nut... at its heart is a darkly meditative slow movement. It has taken a long time for this release to reach the market, but it was worth the wait.” - Piers Burton-Page (International Record Review)

“ Featuring the works of three composers that are leading lights in contemporary music, everything falls right into place on this set that explores fun, upbeat stuff that is dancing right on the edge of being party music in its own right. A set of debut recordings by a string quartet that takes things out of the drawing room quite nicely, this delightful ear opener is nothing less than a real treat .” - Chris Spector (MidWest Record)

“Recorded at the turn of the millennium, the Kreutzers respond brilliantly to all their music's mercurial demands.” «««« - Peter Palmer (Nottingham Evening Post) “

[Casken's Quartet is audience-friendly... I enjoyed it... a fine performance” - Peter Spaull (Liverpool Daily Post)

“The Kreutzer Quartet's triptych of British string quartets from the 1990s can be enjoyed as a single journey: cold, colder, coldest. The performance is strong” - Anna Picard (The Independent)

“There are some good helpful notes and the sound quality is first class. Well done to Metier for giving [these recordings] the oxygen of publicity” - Jonathan Woolf (Music Web)

“What does link the works is craftsmanship and integrity, as well as the obvious care with which the Kreutzer quartet performs them.” - Andrew Clements (The Guardian)