From the album "Ins stille Land" (PENTATONE)

SONGS AND QUARTETS OF FINAL JOURNEYS AND CONSOLATIONS

After their multi-award-winning album Aus der Ferne, the Signum Quartett continues their Schubert journey for PENTATONE with Ins stille Land, another recording that explores the fascinating connections between his string quartets and songs, the latter arranged for string quartet by Xandi van Dijk, the ensemble’s violist. The concept for this recording project grew out of the Schubertiad, where chamber music and vocal works would be heard side by side in an intimate setting. Many of the songs and quartets featured on Ins stille Land share a fascination for death, but death as a final journey that ultimately offers consolation. While the song Ins stille Land (Into the silent land) fully epitomizes this idea, the world famous “Death and the Maiden” quartet is the album’s centrepiece.

Franz Schubert: 3. Scherzo from String Quartet in d minor D 810 "Death and the Maiden"

Antonín Dvořák: IV. Finale from String Quartet in G major, op.106

World premiere played by the Signum Quartet, CBSO Centre, Birmingham

Volans String Quartet No. 12 played by the Signum Quartet

Susa Ninna
Peter Louis van Dijk, Arr. B.Bus
Vocaal Ensemble Kerkrade en Helicon
22-12-12

018-Susa Ninna

Thanks to its rousing and lively interpretations and individual programme concepts, the Signum Quartet has made its mark on the international quartet scene and has established itself as one of the most distinguished ensembles of its generation.

Intensive studies with the Alban Berg Quartet, Artemis Quartet and the Melos Quartet as well as collaborations with György Kurtág, Walter Levin, Alfred Brendel, Leon Fleisher and Joerg Widmann have shaped the artistic development of the Signum Quartet, which has won numerous awards (German Music Competition, Premio Paolo Borciani, London International String Quartet Competition) and has been accorded intensive support (i.a. BBC New Generation Artists).

Their recording ‘No.3’, released in May 2013, presents quartets by Bartók, Schnittke and Berg, and in January 2014 was announced as recipient of the International Classical Music Awards 2014 ‘Best Chamber Music Recording’.

Concert appearances have taken the Signum Quartet to international podia from Madrid and Barcelona to Basel and Paris. The quartet has performed at the Hamburg Laeiszhalle, the Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, the Luxemburg Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall London, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Boston Harvard Musical Association as well as at the Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau and Schwetzingen Music Festivals and at the BBC Proms.

Regular collaborations with contemporary composers are an integral aspect of the Signum Quartet’s artistic work. Bruno Mantovani will dedicate his String Quartet No. 3 to the ensemble, which they will perform in London, Vienna, Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam in the 2016/ 17 season.

Chamber music partners of the quartet include Joerg Widmann, Igor Levit, Nils Moenkemeyer, Adrian Brendel and Dominique Horwitz.

"It is with great pleasure that I listen listen to your energetic earnestness and poetic precision." Wolfgang Rihm on the recording of his Quartettsatz on the CD released in 2012

"The Signum Quartet is an exceptional occurence and deserves utmost attention." Jörg Widmann


Franz Schubert: 3. Scherzo from String Quartet in d minor D 810 "Death and the Maiden"

Signum Quartett

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