Presents
Adalbert Gyrowetz
String Quartet in E flat Major, Op.29 No.1
"The String Quartet in G Major, Op.29 No.2 was the second of a set from 1799. Although these quartets were originally published in Vienna as Op.29, later a Parisian firm republished them as Op. 42. To add to this confusion, yet another firm, this one in Augsburg Germany, published a different set of quartets which they numbered as his Op.42. The opening Allegro moderato begins rather like Haydn’s Op.76 No.4, The Sunrise, not that it sounds the same but that it gives the feeling of the morning beginning. It is an engaging movement full of surprises and exciting passages. The lovely second movement, Adagio con moto, begins as a sad and melancholy affair, soon there are storm-like bursts before the music returns to its original mood, later the tempo picks up and the Adagio seems very distant. Third is a very Haydnesque Menuetto allegro with a ‘Trio rovescio’—in reverse, very original. The finale, is a fetching Allegro. This quartet is every bit as Haydn’s Op.76 No.4, and in some ways better. An excellent concert choice and recommended to amateur quartetters."---Guide to the String Quartet Literature, 2nd Edition
To paraphrase the Professor Bruce Lamott, Adalbert Gyrowetz (1763-1850) was the "Zelig" of music history. Like the lead character of Woody Allen's movie Zelig, Gyrowetz was everywhere and knew everyone worth knowing. He was born in the Bohemian town Budweis, then part of the Austrian Habsburg empire and today known as Budějovice in the Czech Republic. He is sometimes, though not often, known by the Czech form of his name Vojtěch Jírovec. He studied violin and voice with his father, a choirmaster. Gyrowetz traveled throughout Europe, residing for periods in Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, Naples and several other major European cities. Among his friends and acquaintances were Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Goethe and Napoleon to name but a few. His style closely resembles that of Haydn and several of his symphonies were published under Haydn's name by unscrupulous publishers trying to make an extra buck. Mozart thought enough of Gyrowetz's symphonies to perform several of them at concerts in Vienna. Gyrowetz, like most of his contemporaries, was a prolific composer writing some 400 works, among them 60 symphonies, and hundreds of chamber works including approximately 60 string quartets. While today, he has been forgotten and his music consigned to oblivion, this was not always the case. A close friend of both Haydn and Beethoven--he was a pallbearer at Ludwig's funeral--his music was held in respect and frequently performed on the same programs with theirs throughout Europe and even in North America.
This quartet is not only historically important because it sheds light on what other then important composers were doing at the time in Vienna but also because it is pleasing to play and hear. And this set of quartets is especially noteworthy in that many elements found here appear shortly thereafter in Beethoven's Op.18 quartets. Surely this is no accident and something for which Gyrowetz has not been given the credit he deserves.
Parts: $24.95
