Eleanor Alberga
String Quartets 1, 2 & 3
Ensemble Arcadiana
Navona Records
Navona Records
STRING QUARTETS 1, 2 & 3
Eleanor Alberga
Ensemble Arcadiana
Thomas Bowes violin 1
Jacqueline Shave/Oscar Perks violin 2
Andres Kaljuste viola
Jonathan Swensen cello
With her richly diverse background and
commissions from the BBC Proms and The Royal Opera, one would expect
that composer Eleanor Alberga’s Navona Records release would be nothing
short of a showstopper. It is just that and more. The three pieces on
her STRING QUARTETS 1, 2 & 3 offer a penetrating view into Alberga’s
creative genius. The album pulls the absolute best from the gifted
Ensemble Arcadiana.
STRING QUARTETS 1, 2 & 3 begins with the dazzling and giddying String Quartet no 1.
The composer describes it as being inspired by a lecture on physics and
the fact that everything, including our own bodies, are essentially
made of stardust. Rich and lyrical yet spellbindingly complex, the
strings seem to interact with each other like comets in a celestial
soundscape. String Quartet no 2 is, in the
words of the composer, more concise and compact than the first. Its
single movement span presents traditional forms embedded in a truly
forward-thinking piece, bringing out Alberga’s great skills as an artist
and composer. String Quartet no 3 takes the
album in a different direction from the first two pieces, mixing
tonality with 12-tone elements. Notably modern yet decidedly enjoyable
to the ear (and to the performers, who described the third movement as
like the “play of sunlight on water”), String Quartet no 3
bridges styles and evolves naturally as the piece progresses. It takes a
truly skilled, genuinely inspired composer to write in a way that is so
complex and yet sounds so effortless.
STRING QUARTETS 1, 2 & 3 is a string quartet
album like no other, taking listeners on a heart stopping journey
through a composer’s richly creative mind and an ensemble’s cohesive,
dynamic artistry. As the string quartet genre continues to evolve, one
can be sure that Eleanor Alberga will remain at the forefront for years
to come.
Release Date: June 14, 2019
Catalog #: NV6234
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