Signum Quartett

Signum Quartett – Schubert: Ins stille Land (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · September 7, 2023 · Comments off

After their multi-award-winning album “Aus der Ferne”, the Signum Quartett continues their Schubert journey with “Ins stille Land”, another recording that explores the fascinating connections between his string quartets and songs, the latter arranged for string quartet by Xandi van Dijk, the ensemble’s violist. The concept for this recording project grew out of the Schubertiad, where chamber music and vocal works would be heard side by side in an intimate setting. Many of the songs and quartets featured on “Ins stille Land” share a fascination for death, but death as a final journey that ultimately offers consolation. While the song “Ins stille Land” fully epitomizes this idea, the world famous “Death and the Maiden” quartet is the album’s centrepiece.

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Signum Quartett – Schubert: Aus der Ferne (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · September 4, 2023 · Comments off

Franz Schubert’s songs sometimes found their way into his instrumental works, perhaps most famously in the fourth movement of the Piano Quintet in A major, D667, “Trout,” which was based on Die Forelle, D550; the Wanderer Fantasy in C major, D760, which was inspired by Der Wanderer, D489; and the second movement of the String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D810, which was based on Der Tod und das Mädchen, D531. Digging a little deeper into Schubert’s oeuvre, the Signum Quartett explores less obvious relationships, though no less significant, because the mixing of songs and instrumental works was common at his private concerts for his friends, the Schubertiades. This 2018 release on PentaTone Classics, Aus der ferne, presents a handful of Lieder in arrangements for string quartet by the group’s violist, Xandi van Dijk, and two lyrical chamber works, the String Quartet No. 8 in B flat major, D112, and the String Quartet No 13 in A minor, “Rosamunde.” Listening to this hybrid SACD doesn’t require any special research or careful bar-by-bar analysis, because Schubert’s melodies are plainly evident and the Signum Quartett plays with great warmth and a light, lyrical spirit, so the program works exceptionally well as pure music, intriguing as the connections between the songs and the quartets are.

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Signum Quartett – Schubert: Lebensmuth (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 25, 2023 · Comments off

Lebensmuth is the final episode of Signum Quartett’s acclaimed Schubert trilogy, in which early and late string quartets are combined with song arrangements created by the group’s violist Xandi van Dijk. Schubert’s First String Quartet in G Minor, written when he was 13, already reveals his inclination to bold and unexpected moves. His last String Quartet in G major, D. 887 veers between a profound examination of personal trauma and a blazing triumph over adversity, and it is this resilience of spirit which is further highlighted by songs such as ‘An die Musik’ and ‘Lebensmuth’, pieces that courageously embrace life and all the beauty it offers.

The Signum Quartett is frequently hailed as one of the most adventurous and outstanding ensembles of today. The quartet’s first Pentatone recording Aus der Ferne (2018) won an Opus Klassik 2019 award, as well as a diapason d’or, and was followed by Ins stille Land (2020).

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