Presents
Hermann Berens
String Quartet in e minor, Op.78
Hermann Berens (1826-1880) was born in Hamburg and studied piano and composition with Carl Gottlieb Reissiger who was the music director and chief conductor in Dresden. During this time, Reissiger employed Wagner as his second conductor. Although Berens undoubtedly got to know Wagner well, there is nothing of Wagner in Berens’ music. Rather, Mendelssohn and Schumann served as his models. He spent most of his life in Sweden eventually becoming the director of a prominent Stockholm music drama theater and a professor at the Stockholm Conservatory. In addition to his chamber music, he wrote several operas in Swedish and a considerable amount of piano music. Besides the piano, Berens also was proficient on the violin and the trios reveal the hand of an experienced string player.
Berens' String Quartet in e minor dates from 1866 and was dedicated to the Swedish composer Adolf Lindblad. The opening movement begins with a slow introduction which leads to the main section, Allegro, which is by turns energetic and then lyrical. The second movement is marked Romanza, andante larghetto. It has the quality of a Mendelssohnian song without words. Next comes a thrusting Scherzo allegro full of forward motion. The opening ominous chords to the finale, Allegro con moto, seem to quote Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, but what follows is lyrical and full of sunshine.
This is an appealing mid-romantic era quartet. Long out of print which can be recommended to amateurs and professionals alike.
Parts: $24.95
