Peter Heise (1830-1879)
Complete String Quartets
Nordic String Quartet
rec. 2022, Garnisonskirken, Copenhagen, Denmark
Reviewed as lossless download
First recordings
Dacapo 8.226283-85 [158]
In his time, Peter Heise was a prominent figure in Denmark, particularly known for his songs and the opera Drot og marsk (King and Marshal). That prominence has certainly faded since his early death. His six string quartets were not known to the public during his lifetime, though it does seem that some of them were performed in private quite regularly. The booklet makes the quite remarkable assertion that no string quartet – by anyone – was performed in public in Denmark until 1854, by which time Heise had already written five of his six. His widow felt they were part of his “youthful” works, even though they were all written in his twenties, and hid them away. Quartet No. 1 was placed in a folder bearing the message “Heise’s handwritten scores from older times – not to be printed, perhaps best burned”. Based on the pristine condition of the first quartet’s manuscript, it is thought it may have never been played until its first recording in 2022.
Given their history, I was totally unprepared for how good these quartets are. All six – yes, even the “best burned” No. 1 – are thoroughly enjoyable, and in many places, quite superb. They have the lightness of touch of the Classical era, but with some added gravitas of the early Romantic. They are probably at their best in the quicker movements, where the rhythms are quite bewitching, but there are some lovely slow movements as well. The best signposts I can give you are Schubert and Beethoven (his early quartets). They do have the vitality of Mendelssohn, but not that level of melodic genius. There is certainly an original voice heard in them, and a consistency in quality and style across all six works, which leads me to suggest that you could do your sample listening anywhere in the twenty-four movements. If I was put on the spot, I would put the C minor Quartet (No. 4) at the top of the list. For the majority of the time, Heise writes concisely, though that goes out the window in the last movement of the fifth quartet, which is more than sixteen minutes in duration (almost as long as the other three movements). There certainly isn’t the level of inspiration present to support such a large structure, but it is a rare slip-up.
It should be obvious that the impression that these works have made on me is due, in no small part, to the Nordic String Quartet. Before Heise, they recorded some 20th century music for Dacapo (Dalberg – review – and Gudmundsen-Holmgreen – review) and in each case, my colleagues praised their performances; I can wholeheartedly add my plaudits. Their togetherness in the scurrying fast movements is simply stunning. They play on modern instruments, in a manner that is appropriate to the style of music. In numerous reviews of chamber music, I have commented negatively on the tone of the violins, but here I have nothing but praise. The sound quality is very good, with no extraneous noise caught by the microphones, and the booklet notes are exceptional.
Now we come to the only thorny aspect of this release. All six quartets were recorded, across three sessions, in 2022, and Dacapo released Quartets 1-3 in 2023 (8.224734). For some reason, the label has chosen here not to simply release the remaining three. This will present a dilemma (and cause a degree of annoyance) for those who bought the earlier release, and now have to buy it again. Just to be clear, these are the same recordings of Quartets 1-3; while the booklet for the complete set claims that only 4-6 are first recordings, they very clearly all are, it’s just that it’s not the first release of 1-3.
The CD set is spread over three discs, and even this shows poor planning as it would have been quite easy to organise the works onto two discs. Presto Classical shows the CD set at £22, so at least you are only being charged for two discs, but the download (for 16 bit CD quality) is £34. To emphasise the absurdity of that pricing, I could order the CD set from Presto (in the UK), and have it delivered to me here in New Zealand, and still pay significantly less than buying the download.
For those who don’t already have the first release, the decision to purchase the complete set should be a very easy one, as the music should give you many delights. For those of you who purchased and enjoyed “Volume 1”, I can only say that Quartets 4-6 are even better. For me, this is a very definite entry in my Recordings of the Year.
David Barker
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Contents
String Quartet No. 1 in B minor (1852)
String Quartet No. 2 in G major (1852)
String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major (c. 1853)
String Quartet No. 4 in C minor (c. 1853)
String Quartet No. 5 in A major (c. 1853)
String Quartet No. 6 in G minor (1857)
