Available Now:
Mozart: Apotheosis 1, 2, 3
Our late-Mozart compendium is complete with the release of Apotheosis vol. 3 (FCL2024) featuring violists David Samuel and Paul Yarbrough. In the liner notes, Eric Bromberger provides an overview of Mozart's oeuvre and then delves into the individual character of each of the string quintets. Read an excerpt…
THREE VOLUMES (6 CDs):
Apotheosis vol. 1 — Mozart Final Quartets (FCL2016)
Apotheosis vol. 2 — Mozart Piano Quartets, with Joyce Yang (FCL2018)
Apotheosis vol. 3 — Mozart String Quintets, with Paul Yarbrough (FCL2024)
England Revisited…
British Invasion
This dynamic collaboration between guitarist WILLIAM KANENGISER and the ALEXANDER STRING QUARTET explores the music of Sting, Led Zeppelin, John Dowland and The Beatles through works by contemporary composers Ian Krouse, Dušan Bogdanović and Léo Brouwer. In this project, Kanengiser and the ASQ pay tribute to a group of English musicians who conquered the musical world with their revolutionary explorations. From Elizabethan lutenist John Dowland to pop/rock icons Sting, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, these artists made a lasting impact far from the shores of their small island. Their music inspired this set of original compositions for guitar and string quartet by talented composers Ian Krouse, Dušan Bogdanović and Léo Brouwer. It is especially appropriate that the guitar sits squarely at the center of these works, as the plucked string was the primary musical voice of these British innovators. Read more…
Recent releases:
Brahms String Quartets
The Alexander String Quartet is pleased to announce the release of Brahms' three string quartets, plus the newly re-recorded Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118 No. 2 (transcribed for string quartet by Zakarias Grafilo), both illuminated by Eric Bromberger's liner notes (FCL2022). Called "a stunning achievement" by Lynn René Bayley, this release has added significance: It completes the ASQ's Brahms "compendium" — described below.
The Brahms Project —
A Collaborative Compendium
Over the past eight years, we have focused on the works of Johannes Brahms, in performance and then in recordings of various facets of the repertoire. With the release of Brahms' String Quartets (FCL 2022), including the newly re-recorded Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118 No. 2 (transcribed for string quartet by Zakarias Grafilo) — and our recent release, Brahms & Mozart: Clarinet Quintets (FCL 2021), with acclaimed clarinetist Eli Eban — we have completed this collection. For Brahms & Schumann Piano Quintets (FCL 2014) and Brahms Quintets and Sextets (FCL 2012), we were joined by more of our favorite collaborators — pianist Joyce Yang, violist Toby Appel and cellist David Requiro. Before that, we recorded Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet on In Friendship (FCL 2007) with Joan Enric Lluna — and With Strings Attached (FCL 2006) includes two of Brahms' piano works transcribed for string quartet by Zak Grafilo. Read about the influence of chronology on our approach to Brahms — and see In the Works for more about "wrapping up" the Brahms Project.
MusicWeb International Recording of the Year Nominee: “Two of the great clarinet quintets in exemplary performances, full of subtle nuance, but tempered by a clear desire to communicate the quality of the music rather than the performers’ skills. The differences between the two works are similarly tempered by recognition of how important the Mozart quintet was to Brahms in the composition of his quintet. The recorded sound is exemplary too — the balance of the five instruments being perfectly presented.” — Glyn Pursglove
Music Notes “Best of Year”: “There are times – either times of day or times in which we live — when music can provide healing, induce calm, soothe our troubled hearts, allay our fears, and for a moment dispel our cares. As I sat late one night, and let this music so exquisitely played and shared with us by five formidable artists create its magic, time stopped and all that mattered in that moment was Mozart and Brahms and the Alexander String Quartet and Eli Eban.” — Rafael Acha
Read more or order now.
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OTHER RECENT RELEASES
DVOŘÁK — LOCALE
Selected by Music-Web International as one of the Recordings of the Year 2019! Alexander String Quartet and Joyce Yang, piano: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American” and Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81. Nick Barnard wrote, “The players have managed to return to a very standard work in the repertoire and play it with the bright-eyed brilliance of first acquaintance — genuinely a performance to cherish.” Read more or order now (FCL 2020).
World Premiere Recording
MAHLER SONG CYCLES: In meinem Himmel
Three Mahler song cycles — Songs of the Wayfarer, the Ruckert and Kindertöten Lieder — have been transcribed for string quartet by our very own Zakarias Grafilo and sung by remarkable mezzo soprano Kindra Scharich. Developed in collaboration with LiederAlive! Read more or order from order now (FCL 2019).
MOZART: In addition to the above mentioned Clarinet Quintets, we have furthered our Mozart Project with two other recent releases: Apotheosis, vol. 1 — The Final Quartets, and Apotheosis, vol. 2 — The Piano Quartets, with inspiring pianist Joyce Yang. On the release of Apotheosis-2, Dominy Clements wrote: “I very much enjoy the … consistent high quality and the sense of delight they impart to this music, and for these and many other reasons, it would be most welcome on my desert island.” MusicWeb International Recording of the Month!
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“Quietly, deliberately, and without fanfare, the Alexander String Quartet has been moving through the major string quartet repertoire, leaving extraordinary statements as they go. I have written about their Beethoven and Shostakovich, developing increasing respect for both over time....The first thing we notice as we work our way though the three CD Bartók & Kodály album is the weight and power the Alexanders bring to bear on, or more likely bring out of, this music....They hear Bartók's string quartets as modernist monuments and their interpretation aims to make that case. Which it surely does.” — Bob Neill, Positive Feedback Online
On the horizon: At some point, we hope to provide the opportunity to download several 24 bit Hi-Res recordings right here. Our recordings are available through ArkivMusic — but eventually, as we remaster our back-catalog, more and more may be available directly through Foghorn.
Looking back: Our first independent release in 1994 met with great success and led to several diversions along the way, including a sequence of recordings for BMG’s Arte Nova label and a few other labels, too. Since then Foghorn has remained our very own labor (and label?) of love, dedicated exclusively to the work of the Alexander String Quartet and some of our many esteemed and favorite collaborators. Read more
Our Fall 2013 release of the complete quartets of Bartók and Kodály (FCL 2009) continues to be well-received, and you can read excerpts from recent reviews here. Produced by Judith Sherman, this 3-CD set includes a 24-page booklet with Eric Bromberger's beautifully insightful liner notes. We are delighted to share, once again, the stunning sonorities of San Francisco/Cremona–based luthier Francis Kuttner’s Ellen M. Egger Quartet. This superb contemporary quartet of Stradivarius modeled instruments, dating from 1987, was also featured on our 9-CD Beethoven Cycle (FCL 2005) and on the Wayne Peterson compendium “Retrospections” (FCL 1994).
Once again, welcome! We hope you'll return regularly to follow our progress here and in our various blogposts. Drop us a line anytime and share your ideas, encouragement and suggestions.
Listen to some Foghorn history.