String Quartets 4

The fourth installment of our Ferdinand Ries Edition with the Schuppanzigh Quartet presents two selected works that underscore the composer's great importance! Throughout his life, Ries, a student of Beethoven, was preoccupied with the composition of string quartets and quintets. The C major String Quintet op. 37 was composed in 1809 and dedicated to the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, who had made a name for himself in Vienna as the primarius of the "Schuppanzigh Quartet" which he had founded. In Ries's quintet, what is special and new about the opening of the movement is that the theme itself, introduced at the beginning, first leads to the home key, rather than beginning or standing stably in it. It is also striking that the opening theme is not introduced by one instrument alone. Rather, it is a theme in dialogue form between cello and first violin, with repetitive filler voices in the middle. Similar to this quintet, the String Quartet Op. 150, N. 1 is distinguished by interesting and comparatively unusual features. Although the first movement opens quickly and restlessly in straight 4/4 time, after only four measures Ries contrasts the mood with a brief, "searching" or "questioning" Andantino in 6/8 time. The specialist press wrote in 1827: "I will tell you little of this excellent artist, you must hear him for yourself and admire his latest creations. [...] Whoever is familiar with Ries compositions and has recognized what is peculiar in them, will also be attracted by these compositions and will have a rare pleasure. His compositions all have a noble, grand character, they are solid; only rarely does he lose himself in petty painting, uninteresting executions, playing and dallying, as we are accustomed to with the great Beethoven, of whom he is often reminiscent, even though he borrows nothing from him."

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