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Bax: String Quartets 1, 2
 
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Bax: String Quartets 1, 2 [CD]

The Maggini Quartet | Format: Audio CD
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Price: £5.77 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Biography

The Maggini Quartet is one of the finest British string quartets. Renowned for their championship of British repertoire, their acclaimed and ongoing contribution to the Naxos British Music Series has seen the Maggini’s worldwide CD sales exceed 100,000. International awards include Gramophone Chamber Music CD of the Year, a Cannes Classical Award and a Diapason d’Or of the Year and they have been… Read more in Amazon's The Maggini Quartet Store

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Frequently Bought Together

Bax: String Quartets 1, 2 + Bax: String Quartet No. 3, Lyrical Interlude/Adagio + Bridge: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 3
Price For All Three: £19.68

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Product details

  • Composer: Arnold Bax
  • Audio CD (5 Nov 2001)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Naxos
  • ASIN: B00005RG7Q
  • Other Editions: MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 66,003 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet in G major: I. Allegretto semplice 8:31Album Only
Listen  2. String Quartet in G major: II. Lento e molto expressivo 8:23Album Only
Listen  3. String Quartet in G major: III. Rondo: Allegro vivace 6:46£0.69
Listen  4. String Quartet in A major: I. Allegro12:07Album Only
Listen  5. String Quartet in A major: II. Lento molto espressivo10:04Album Only
Listen  6. String Quartet in A major: III. Allegro vivace 8:15Album Only

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The Maggini Quartet does its impressive reputation no harm at all here--the playing of these two rarely-heard quartets by Bax is simply outstanding in all respects, aided by immaculate, immediate sound. Whether or not these works are in the quartet's permanent repertoire I don't know, but the sense of assurance, direction, balance and ear for colour certainly suggest so--there is total commitment from all four players. As to Bax himself? Well, those bewitched by the magic of his symphonic sound need not fear disappointment here. Having said that, the first quartet, written when the composer was 35 (and dedicated to Elgar in memory of a meeting when Bax was a schoolboy), is uncomplicatedly fresh and charming, containing much by way of folk music influence. This also seeps here and there into the second quartet, but this is a far more complex work. Darker in tone and encompassing many contrasting moods, it calls for a high level of accomplishment in sewing diverse ideas and textures together. The first quartet may initially draw you back to this album, but you may find that it's the second that comes to haunt--a fascinating scaling-down of the sound-world of those haunting symphonies. --Andrew Green

BBC Review

It's strange but deeply satisfying to be able to say that the reputation of Arnold Bax's Symphonies is probably secure, thanks to the efforts of conductors like Vernon Handley, Bryden Thomson and David Lloyd-Jones; Bax's tone poems are even better bedded-in now...but the rehabilitation is hardly complete, as this new Naxos release reminds us. So we know the pleasures of Bax's orchestral music, the intense colour of the scores; how does his chamber music compare?

Inevitably a string quartet offers fewer colours to play with, yet while you listen to the String Quartet No. 3 you never feel impoverished. The intensity, the warmth, the sheer lyrical beauty of the work is quite staggering at times, and the playing of the Maggini Quartet is stunning, from the hushed whispers of the third movement's Trio, to the rhythmic unanimity of all four performers in the Scherzo proper, with its unsettling harmonic insecurity and nervous tics and twitches...or the robust exuberance of the finale, with its unexpectedly powerful ending. The melodic ideas pour from Bax's pen, a rich profusion that seems to stem from a summer spent in England, and memories of his beloved Ireland: 'the coming of spring in beautiful Kenmare'...and if there are shadows, then they're not the shadows of war; the Third Quartet dates from 1936, written for the Griller Quartet.

The Magginis have already made a superb recording of the first two Bax quartets for Naxos, and this fine recording completes the picture: warmth and detail, intimacy yet beautifully captured ambience. Add the other two works, earlier Bax expressing in more straightforward terms his love-affair with Ireland; observe that none of this heart-warming music is otherwise available on CD, and clock the price: £4.99. How can you possibly resist?

Like This? Try These:

Vaughan Williams: Early Chamber Music

The Berkeley Edition Vol. 2 --Andrew McGregor

Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window

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Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
No going Bax! 7 Feb 2011
Format:MP3 Download|Amazon Verified Purchase
This has been my first introduction to the chamber works of Arnold Bax.

I will not bore you with blather on the rendition and musical content.

Suffice to say that I enjoyed listening and the playing/recording is excellent.

Highly recommended.
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Beautiful 1 Oct 2011
By paulk
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although I particularly like Bax's music I believe this recording will be appreciated by most chamber music lovers. The Maggini Quartet play with beautiful tone and the recording is excellent.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Graham
Format:Audio CD
This is an excellent introduction to the chamber music of Sir Arnold Bax.
The first quartet deserves to be popular with its easy going style and good tunes.
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