Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) – String Quartet no. 1 (1924)
- Presto con fuoco, 2. Allegretto con moto e con malinconia grotesca, 3. Allegro giocoso slovacca, 4. Andante molto sostenuto
Performed by: Alma Quartet Amsterdam
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) – String Quartet no. 2 (1925)
- Allegro agitato, 2. Tema con variazioni. Moderato, 3. Allegro gajo, 4. Finale. Andante quasi introduzione – Allegro molto
Performed by: Alma Quartet Amsterdam
Vitezslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) – String Quartet opus 8 (1935/36)
- Con brio, 2. Lento, 3. Allegro con variazioni
Performed by: Kaprálová Quartet
In line with the aesthetics of the 1920s, in the music of Erwin Schulhoff we find neo-baroque stylistic elements alongside elements from jazz and music hall. With the two four-movement string quartets (1924 and 1925), Schulhoff placed himself alongside Stravinsky and Hindemith: the fast movements are strongly motor-like, the slow ones lilting or dreamy, but never sentimental. At the same time, at times we can detect the influence of Arnold Schönberg.
Vitezslava Kaprálová left for Paris after her studies in Prague to study composition with Martinů as well as orchestral conducting. Her String Quartet (1936) dates from her Prague years and betrays her Moravian origins. But we also hear the influence of the Czech language on the construction of melodies and rhythms, as in the music of Janáček.
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