The Nash Ensemble - Debussy: String Quartet & Sonatas [CD]

Cat. no: CDA68463
Format: CD
Barcode: 034571284637
Release Date: 10 Jan 2025
Genre: Classical

The personnel may have changed over the years but the musical standards remain reassuringly high

Currently celebrating its 60th anniversary season, The Nash Ensemble here delivers perfectly judged accounts of Debussy's String Quartet & Sonatas. 

Besides that early quartet and the three sonatas which date from the composer's fnal years, the programme also includes a rare outing for David Walter's chamber ensemble arrangement of the Prlude l'aprs-midi d'un faune.

Scored for twelve players (single strings and winds, plus harp and crotales), this is an idiomatic version which loses none of the mastery and languor of the orchestral original.

This album again demonstrates the truth of The Sunday Times's evaluation of the Nash: 'chamber music royalty'.

From two players to twelve: few ensembles could respond with equal authority to the very varied demands made by this wonderful collection of Debussy's chamber music. But then, few ensembles can stand comparison with the Nash, whose members continue to set the standards across a dauntingly wide repertoire.

A realisation of the Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune for chamber ensemble adds to  this album's more familiar attractions of the string quartet and three sonatas.

Tracks: Prelude a l'apres- midi d'un faune, L87 / Violin Sonata in G minor, L148 I. Allegro vivo / II. Intermede: Fantasque et leger / III. Finale: Tres anime / Sonata for fute, viola and harp, L145 I. Pastorale: Lento, dolce rubato / II. Interlude: Tempo di minuetto / III. Finale: Allegro moderato ma risoluto / Cello Sonata in D minor, L144 I. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto / II. Serenade: Moderement anime - / III. Finale: Anime, leger et nerveux / String Quartet in G minor, L91 I. Anime et tres decide / II. Assez vif et bien rythme / III. Andantino, doucement expressif / IV. Tres modere

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