Beethoven: Early String Quartets Narratio Quartet

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18:
• 1 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro 08:14
• 2 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: II. Andante con moto 07:47
• 3 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: III. Allegro 03:10
• 4 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18: IV. Presto 07:35
• String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18:
• 5 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro con brio 10:29
• 6 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato 08:59
• 7 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo Allegro molto - Trio 03:46
• 8 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18: IV. Allegro 07:20
• String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18:
• 9 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro 08:18
• 10 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: II. Adagio cantabile - Allegro - Tempo I 05:47
• 11 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo Allegro - Trio 04:56
• 12 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18: IV. Allegro molto - quasi Presto 05:53
• String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18:
• 13 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro 07:50
• 14 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18: II. Menuetto - Trio 05:20
• 15 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18: III. Andante cantabile (con variazioni) 11:05
• 16 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18: IV. Allegro 07:33
• String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18:
• 17 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: I. Allegro ma non tanto 09:36
• 18 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: II. Andante scherzoso quasi Allegretto 07:41
• 19 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: III. Menuetto Allegro - Trio 03:46
• 20 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: IV. Allegretto - Prestissimo 04:54
• String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18:
• 21 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro con brio 07:03
• 22 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: II. Adagio ma non troppo 06:32
• 23 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo Allegro - Trio 03:47
• 24 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: IV. La Malinconia - Questo pezzo si deve trattare colla più gran delicatezza - Adagio - Allegretto quasi Allegro 07:58
• Total Runtime 02:45:19

Info for Beethoven: Early String Quartets

Viola de Hoog: Ich habe mich oft gefragt, welcher der "großen Geister" einen neuen Impuls und eine andere Richtung für das geben könnte, was wir zu Beginn des einundzwanzigsten Jahrhunderts klassische Musik nennen. Das Narratio Quartett beschäftigt sich nun schon seit über fünfzehn Jahren mit allen Streichquartetten Beethovens. Wir erleben immer wieder, wie Beethoven die Grenzen des klassischen Stils und die instrumentalen Schwierigkeiten, die zu Beginn des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts vorherrschten, erforscht und dann überwunden hat. Was wir hören, ist durch zwei Jahrhunderte und den Zugewinn an Erfahrung bereichert worden. Fortschritt in der Tat, könnte Ihr erster Gedanke sein, aber vielleicht haben wir auf diesem Weg auch etwas verloren? Die Fähigkeit zu spüren, wie bahnbrechend und visionär diese Musik damals war. Meine Kollegen und ich sind der Meinung, dass die Verwendung von Instrumenten, die mit denen der damaligen Zeit vergleichbar sind, uns enorm dabei geholfen hat, der Überraschung, der Verblüffung und der Begeisterung etwas näher zu kommen, die die Musiker in Schuppanzighs Quartett empfunden haben müssen, als sie zum ersten Mal mit der neuesten und innovativsten Kammermusik der damaligen Zeit konfrontiert wurden.

Narratio Quartett:
Johannes Leertouwer, Violine
Viola de Hoog, Cello
Franc Polman, Violine
Dorothea Vogel, Viola

Narratio Quartet
The narrative of the Narratio Quartet began in 2009 when it was invited to perform Beethoven’s last five string quartets on five consecutive nights at the Early Music Festival Utrecht. It is precisely these late Beethoven quartets which are rarely played on period instruments, using gut strings and 19th-century bows.

Since then the quartet has worked backwards, as it were; it has now played the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets several times in the Netherlands and recently also in Switzerland. Their repertoire has expanded to the later 19th century with the three Brahms quartets in combination with Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn. In the course of 2024/2025 Challenge Records will release their recording of the complete Beethoven cycle played on period instruments.

Johannes Leertouwer
performs as a soloist, chamber music player and conductor. For many years he was concertmaster of Anima Eterna and the Netherlands Bach Society. He is artistic director and conductor of the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht and violinist of Ensemble Schönbrunn since its foundation. In addition to teaching at the Conservatory of Amsterdam he is a professor at Seoul National University and obtained his doctorate in 2023 from the University of Leiden on research into the performance practice of orchestral repertoire by Johannes Brahms.

Franc Polman
is a violinist in the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and has played in prestigious baroque orchestras such as Musica Antiqua Köln and Les Musiciens du Louvre. He is active in several chamber music ensembles. Polman plays on a number of Amsterdam violins from the seventeenth century, built by Hendrik Jacobs and Pieter Rombouts.

Dorothea Vogel
studied in Switzerland, the USA and London, where she has lived since her studies. She was violist of the Allegri Quartet for 20 years and is a member of the Primrose Piano Quartet. She also performs with the English baroque ensemble The Kings Consort. Dorothea teaches at the Royal Welsh College in Cardiff.

Viola de Hoog
is a versatile musician. Her international career takes place in the world of early music, but for 20 years she also travelled all over the world as a member of the renowned Dutch Schönberg Quartet. She is cellist of Ensemble Schönbrunn, principal cellist of the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht and The Kings Consort. Viola has been professor of baroque cello, cello and chamber music at the conservatories of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Bremen since 1990.

Booklet for Beethoven: Early String Quartets