Quartets and dialogues
In these three works for string quartet, Albert Moeschinger moves from neo-classical writing to a much more personal style.
Albert Moeschinger (1897-1985) was one of those composers who followed their own instincts and tastes rather than the trends of their time. During his studies in Leipzig and Munich, he seems to have been imbued with the spirit of Max Reger, and for a long time afterwards his music retained a synthesis of expressionism and strict structure, in a very slightly expanded tonality.
It was only after the 5th Quartet, the latest work on this recording, that Moeschinger turned his attention to twelve-tone music, inspired not by the music of his colleagues, but by the reading of the Doktor Faustus by Thomas Mann. His patrons included Paul Sacher, and Heinz Holliger and Hansheinz Schneeberger recorded his works.
The Rasumowsky Quartet, a German-Swiss ensemble, has recorded three works from the first half of Moeschinger's life, before his voluntary retirement to the heights of Saas Fee. The 3rd Quartet, composed at the age of 26, abounds in reminiscences of the classical era, in four movements, including a minuet so decisively neo-classical that one might think it was an assignment for a composition course, or an exercise in style.
The 5th quartet Colloqui composed in 1940, is much more personal, consisting of six short movements, all characteristic pieces illustrating different types of dialogue, e.g. "colloquio passionale", "divergenza d'opinioni", "imbroglio rustico". Moechinger weaves his web of stubbornly repeated motifs; it's easy to imagine the composer brooding over his thoughts in solitude.
Visit Trauermusik für Frau Hanny BürgiThis rhetorical and expressive funeral music was commissioned by Hanny Bürgi herself, a patron of the composer and of Paul Klee, and in the Grave it pays a fine reverence to Baroque music.
The Rasumowsky Quartet's interpretation leaves nothing to be desired; the four musicians have immersed themselves in Moeschinger's musical world and render it with great sensitivity, impeccable sound and ensemble playing.
Albert Moeschinger: String Quartets Nos. 3 & 5 "Colloqui", Trauermusik für Frau Hanny Bürgi. Rasumowsky Quartet (Dora Bratchkova, Andrea Saxer, violins; Gerhard Müller, viola; Alina Kudelevic, cello). Naxox Swiss Music NXMS 7006
