Tchaikovsky – String Quartet Vol. 2

This album forms the conclusion to our journey through Tchaikovsky’s complete string quartets. We explore the limits of his output as a composer of chamber music, from his earliest single-movement student work up until his last string quartet.

Tchaikovsky was, and in so many ways still is, a cult figure whose genius and artistry has been somewhat obscured by his celebrity status and the worldwide popularity of ‘Brand Tchaikovsky’ embodied in his symphonies, operas and ballet music. So the Dudok Quartet went on a mission to reveal new meaning to these quartets, to make them both fresh and relevant to 21^st century audiences.

In this concluding second volume of our survey of Tchaikovsky’s complete string quartets, we explore the limits of his output as a composer of chamber music. This album opens with his earliest, single-movement String Quartet in B-flat major and moves on to his ultimate String Quartet No. 3 from 1876. This last work gives shape to Tchaikovsky’s deeply felt exclamation, transformed into music after learning about the passing of his dear friend Ferdinand Laub, the violinist who premiered his earlier two string quartets. Learn more about Volume 1 of this collection here.

As a conclusion, we offer a personal tribute into a different part of his oeuvre, by performing own arrangements of four of his Seasons Op. 37a, originally written for piano solo. The sheet music of these arrangements can be downloaded from our website for free.

Writer and philosopher Maxim Februari wrote an essay entitled Everything changes and Tchaikovsky Changes along with it in which he considers what tackling Tchaikovsky’s legacy nowadays could ecompass.“the quartet has to reconcile these temporalities and eternities, give gravity to lightness and bring lightness to gravity. And all that preferably without being too pretentious. That’s quite a task .” Read the full essay here.

Click here to download the album booklet.