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Track(s) taken from CDA67638

Night

composer
8-13 December 1923; first performed in Florida by the Flonzaley Quartet in February 1924; dedicated to Roger Sessions

Goldner String Quartet
Recording details: February 2007
Menuhin Hall, Yehudi Menuhin School, Stoke d'Abernon, Cobham, Surrey, United Kingdom
Produced by Amanda Hurton
Engineered by Ben Connellan
Release date: November 2007
Total duration: 3 minutes 3 seconds

Cover artwork: Shades of Night. Nesta Jennings Campbell (d1951)
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museums, Gloucestershire / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

Delmé Quartet

Reviews

‘A fabulous CD this, easily the best recording of Bloch's chamber music I've heard in years … the first Quintet, a product of the early 1920s, seems to combine the acerbic drive of middle-period Bartók with the kind of veiled sensuality one associates more with Chausson or Fauré. Bloch's use of quarter-tones, aimed at intensifying the work's already heightened emotional atmosphere, requires careful handling, and the Goldner Quartet make them sound both musically striking and entirely natural. If you need a sampling-point, try the finale's opening, where the sense of urgency will hold you riveted … the Quintet's quiet coda is rapturously beautiful and the blending of voices between Piers Lane and the Goldners simply could not be bettered … the music is truly wonderful, the playing entirely sympathetic and the sound perfectly balanced’ (Gramophone)

‘This new beautifully balanced recording in which Piers Lane partners the Australian-based Goldner Quartet has the edge in almost every respect … in the First Quintet Lane and the Goldners manage to communicate the urgency and immediacy of Bloch's musical argument with far greater fervour than their Czech colleagues on the Praga Digitalis release … most attractive are the three Paysages, depicting landscapes as disparate as the frozen Arctic wastes, the slopes of the Alps and the energetic exotic rhythms of the South Pacific islands in vivid colours’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The performances are superb! The Goldners and pianist Lane play with complete technical command and an emotional commitment to the works’ (American Record Guide)

‘This Hyperion release is not only perfectly compiled … but also brings, with the opening of the First Piano Quintet, music that is particularly striking and which also becomes compulsive … the middle movement is an atmospheric Andante mistico, melodic and spacious, strangely beautiful and full of Eastern promise, exotic and ethereal, the writing skilful and imaginative … a powerful and enveloping whole that is both intoxicating yet underpinned with logic … Piers Lane (a sensitive chamber music player whose concerto-soloist confidence and personality is a boon) and the Goldner String Quartet (a group of real distinction) give superb performances, deeply committed, vividly declaring without sacrificing good balance, attention to detail and a wide dynamic range, qualities brought forth by the excellent recording’ (International Record Review)

‘[Piano Quintet No 1] ranks among the finest in the genre … a work of astonishing immediacy, at once lyrical and aggressive, that takes you on a lurching emotional journey before achieving stability in the most serene C major imaginable … the performances, by the Goldner String Quartet and pianist Piers Lane, are tremendously authoritative in their combination of technical daring and expressive power’ (The Guardian)

‘In his two finely crafted piano quintets, we find sonata form mingling with quarter-tones and an identifiably Jewish lyricism: very engaging, especially in these performances from Lane and the Goldner String Quartet’ (Financial Times)

‘Start with the Andante mistico of the First Quintet and you'll discover real intensity in expression and music that borders on the religious in its devoted strength … presented with such vigour and playful ease, particularly by Piers Lane … all essential listening, but the musically most rewarding works here are without doubt the two piano quintets, which I will return to time and time again, not least for the brilliant Piers Lane’ (Pianist)
Bloch wrote several Impressionistic miniatures for string quartet during the 1920s. Night and Paysages (Landscapes) were written in Cleveland between 8 and 13 December 1923; and the premiere of these works was given by the Flonzaley Quartet in Florida in February 1924. Night is similar in mood and style to his other ‘nocturnal’ works, for example the slow movement of the Viola Suite (1919), In the Night (a ‘Love Poem’ for piano, 1922, also in an orchestral version), Nuit exotique for violin and piano (1924) and Three Nocturnes for piano trio (1924). It is a tenebral evocation of Bloch’s love of nature, with limpid melodies, oscillating accompanimental figurations, and gently pulsating rhythms. This work, too, ends with a magical chord of C major. The dedicatee is the American composer Roger Sessions (1896–1985), one of Bloch’s most illustrious pupils.

from notes by Alexander Knapp © 2007

Les années 1920 virent naître plusieurs miniatures impressionnistes pour quatuor à cordes de Bloch. Night et Paysages (Landscapes) furent composées à Cleveland du 8 au 13 décembre 1923 et créées par le Flonzaley Quartet en Floride, en février 1924. Par son climat comme par son style, Night s’apparente aux autres pièces «nocturnes» de Bloch, tels le mouvement lent de la Suite pour alto (1919), In the Night (un «poème d’amour» pour piano de 1922, qui existe aussi en version orchestrale), Nuit exotique pour violon et piano (1924) et Three Nocturnes pour trio avec piano (1924). Cette évocation ténébreuse de l’amour de Bloch pour la nature, faite de mélodies limpides, de figures d’accompagnement oscillantes et de rythmes doucement battants s’achève, elle aussi, sur un magique accord d’ut majeur. Elle est dédiée au compositeur américain Roger Sessions (1896–1985), l’un des plus illustres élèves de Bloch.

extrait des notes rédigées par Alexander Knapp © 2007
Français: Hyperion Records Ltd

In den 1920er Jahren schrieb Bloch mehrere impressionistische Miniaturen für Streichquartett. Night („Nacht“) und Paysages (Landscapes) („Landschaftsbilder“) wurden zwischen dem 8. und 13. Dezember 1923 in Cleveland geschrieben, und das Flonzaley-Quartett spielte im Februar 1924 in Florida die Uraufführung dieser Werke. Night ist in Stimmung und Stil seinen anderen „Nacht“-Stücken ähnlich, wie etwa dem langsamen Satz der Bratschensuite (1919), In the Night („In der Nacht“, ein „Liebesgedicht“ für Klavier, 1922, auch in Orchesterfassung) und die Drei Nocturnes für Klaviertrio (1924). Es ist eine dunkle Heraufbeschwörung von Bruchs Naturliebe, mit klaren Melodien, vibrierenden Begleitungsfiguren und sacht pochenden Rhythmen. Auch dieses Werk schließt mit einem magischen C-Dur-Akkord. Es ist dem amerikanischen Komponisten Roger Sessions (1896–1985), einem der renommiertesten Schüler Blochs, gewidmet.

aus dem Begleittext von Alexander Knapp © 2007
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

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