In the last programme with string quartets of Franz Lachner and Robert Volkmann, it is Lachner’s sixth and last quartet from 1849 versus Volkmann’s fourth quartet from 1857. This quartet also shows how Lachner held on to what he had learned and heard in his early years: Schubert to begin with, followed by Mendelssohn and, to a lesser extent, Schumann. But Robert Volkmann has never been a modernist either. His music entirely belongs to the chamber culture of the mid-nineteenth century.
Franz Lachner – String Quartet in e minor, opus 173 (1849)
1. Allegro moderato, 2. Adagio non troppo, 3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace, 4. Finale. Allegretto – Allegro – Presto
Performers: Rodin-Quartett
CD: Amati Records
Robert Volkmann – String Quartet no 4, in e minor (1857)
1. Allegro comodo, 2. Scherzo. Presto, 3. Andantino, 4. Finale. Allegro vivace
Performers: Mannheim String Quartet
CD: CPO