The Endellion String Quartet

HAYDN – String Quartet Op.74 No.3 (‘Rider’)    

SHOSTAKOVICH – String Quartet No.3 Op.73  

BEETHOVEN – String Quartet Op.74 (‘Harp’)

 

Haydn’s ‘Rider’ quartet was written in his late maturity and is one of his most loved and admired works. The Shostakovich is one of his most expressive and descriptive pieces: the composer himself wrote a brief summary of the story of each movement which he later deleted from the score but which has survived. Beethoven’s ‘Harp’ quartet, named for the pizzicato passage leading to the return in the first movement, is one of his warmest and most affectionate pieces with a sublime slow movement.