Britten / Doric String Quartet String Quartets 1-3 / Three Divertimenti CD

Founded in 1998 at Pro Corda, Suffolk, the multi-award-winning Doric String Quartet describes recording Britten's quartets as a significant milestone: 'In our recording we have endeavoured to tread a line that brings out the humanity in these works but also recognises the need for distance and fragility. This is very personal and intimate music, yet also world-encompassing and timeless.' The Quartet continues: 'Another feature of this recording is that H?l?ne Cl?ment, our violist, is playing on Benjamin Britten's own viola. This instrument (on loan from the Britten-Pears Foundation) was made in 1843 in Milan by Francesco Guissani. It was previously owned by the composer Frank Bridge who gave it to Britten, as a departure gift when Britten and Pears set sail for the USA in 1939.' H?l?ne Cl?ment writes: 'To be able to explore the music of Britten with the very sound that the composer had in his ears is the greatest honour and joy I could have imagined.'

1. String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 2. 1. I. Andante Sostenuto - Allegro Vivo 00:09:05 3. 2. II. Allegretto Con Slancio 00:02:55 4. 3. III. Andante Calmo 00:10:28 5. 4. IV. Molto Vivace 00:03:40 6. 3 Divertimenti 7. 5. No. 1. March: Allegro Maestoso 00:03:36 8. 6. No. 2. Waltz: Allegretto 00:02:58 9. 7. No. 3. Burlesque: Presto 00:03:18 10. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94 11. 8. I. Duets: With Moderate Movement 00:05:38 12. 9. II. Ostinato: Very Fast 00:03:11 13. 10. III. Solo: Very Calm - Lively 00:06:01 14. 11. IV. Burlesque: Fast 00:02:16 15. 12. V. Recitative and Passacaglia (La Serenissima): Slow 00:10:01 16. 22 Purcell, Henry - Classical Composer 17. 1. Fantasia a 4 No. 6 in F Major, Z. 737 00:03:27 18. 2. Fantasia a 4 No. 7 in C minor, Z. 738 00:03:29 19. 3. Fantasia a 4 No. 8 in D minor, Z. 739 00:03:41 20. 4. Fantasia a 4 No. 9 in a Minor, Z. 740 00:02:55 21. 5. Fantasia a 4 No. 10 in E minor, Z. 741 00:03:27 22. Britten, Benjamin - Classical Composer 23. String Quartet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 36 24. 6. I. Allegro Calmo Senza Rigore 00:08:13 25. 7. II. Vivace 00:03:23 26. 8. III. Chacony: Sostenuto 00:18:56