Streichquartett G-Dur / string quartet G major

Schubert only took ten days to write his String Quartet in G major one of his truly monumental chamber music works. With its almost symphonic dimensions this late quartet is reminiscent of his greatString Quintet in C major. As divulged in a letter Schubert actually wanted to 'pave the way for the large symphony' with this quartet and several other chamber music works that he composed around the same time. Writtenin 1826 the quartet was not performed in public during the composer’s lifetime; and it was only published long after his death. This Urtext edition with its accompanying study edition is therefore based on the survivingautograph.

Appony Quartets-Joseph Haydn composed the string quartets known as Op.71/74 also called the 'Apponyi' Quartets in 1793. The composer dated the autograph scores accordingly although the year that appears on those of the B flat major and D majorquartets shows signs of having been corrected. These two works might already have been finished in 1792. However it is certain that Op.71/74 were composed in Vienna during the period between Haydn's two journeys to England andintended as a series of six quartets.The decision to divide the quartets into two sets of three was taken by the publishers. The three Quartets Op.71 were first published in 1795 by Corri Dussek & Co. then in a slightlyrevised reprint by the Viennese publishing house of Artaria & Co.

String Quartets Book VIII op. 64-The quartets were dedicated to the violinist Johann Tost who was the second principal violinist at the Esterházy court during the 1780s. His business sense led him to sell twelve quartets - opus 64 was probably amongst them -to a Parisian publisher. Whether Haydn approved of this is open to question - the dedication was however no longer present in the second imprint or the following ones. Our edition follows the Haydn CompleteEdition and for the first time juxtaposes the quartet in E flat major and the two original trios.

Für Streichquartett-In 1919-20 George Gershwin was making a name for himself with Broadway songs and a first show of his own in New York. But he was already attracted to the world of classical music a world he would enter with a bang in 1924 withhis Rhapsody in blue. He prepared himself for this by taking an intensive course in composition during which he wrote this brief ?Lullaby? for string quartet as an exercise probably in 1919. He liked its catchy melody so muchthat he later used it again in his one-act ?jazz opera? Blue Monday Blues. ?I find the piece charming and kind? wrote his brother Ira in 1968 when the quartet movement appeared in print for the first time. Thus the world wasgiven a second lullaby by this American composer one worthy to stand alongside his famous ?Summertime? from Porgy and Bess.(englisches Originalzitat: ?I find the piece charming and kind.?)