Country : Germany / United States Label : Brilliant Classics Genres and styles : Classical / Modern Classical Year : 2021

Merian Ensemble / Rózsa : String Quartet no 1; String Trio op.1 – Herrmann : Echoes for String Quartet

· by Frédéric Cardin

One of the most positive consequences of the rise of film music in concert halls and in the regular canon of Western classical music is the parallel rise of composers closely associated with this music, and especially their “concert” works. Here are three fine examples. The Quartet and Trio by Miklós Rózsa (Ben-Hur, Spellbound, Quo Vadis?, The Lost Weekend, King of Kings, etc.) are bathed in atmospheres that are reminiscent of certain Hollywood pages, but darker and woven in textures and colors that evoke the late romanticism of Barber or Copland, and sometimes even a touch of Bartok’s modernism. Echoes for String Quartet by Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Vertigo, North by Northwest, etc.) is an even more interesting work: composed at the end of the composer’s life, after two particularly depressing personal failures, the departure of his wife and the rejection of his music for Torn Curtain by Hitchcock. He would never again write for his favorite collaborator, which left him in a particularly dark state of mind. While Echoes is not a faithful, wall-to-wall translation of that darkness, it is shot through with dramatic fluids that betray that psychological haze. But more than that, the twenty-minute-long quartet is a brilliant synthesis of Herrmann’s language across a few decades of Hollywood life (yes, here and there are some ”echoes” of Psycho!). The last bars are particularly poignant, made of etiolated sounds, disappearing like steam in the wind, like the genius of this original creator, slowly fading into oblivion in an industry that was beginning to look elsewhere. The Ensemble Merian (made up of musicians from Frankfurt’s orchestras) is excellent but above all promised to other explorations of the genre, as they say they want to devote themselves to the concert repertoire of the great film composers. We’ll be on the lookout for more gems like this in the future!

Latest 360 Content

Mundial Montréal | Empanadas Ilegales: Cumbia Is Everywhere, also in Vancouver !

Mundial Montréal | Empanadas Ilegales: Cumbia Is Everywhere, also in Vancouver !

Mundial Montreal | Royal Treatment for Magdala

Mundial Montreal | Royal Treatment for Magdala

Mundial Montréal | Eli Levinson Presents The ENTIRE Program!

Mundial Montréal | Eli Levinson Presents The ENTIRE Program!

Festival Marathon de M pour MTL | Mikey’s Programming Overview

Festival Marathon de M pour MTL | Mikey’s Programming Overview

Tryptique

Tryptique

Peggy Lee & Cole Schmidt – Forever Stories of: Moving Parties

Peggy Lee & Cole Schmidt – Forever Stories of: Moving Parties

Andrew Wells-Oberegger – Déjouer le glas

Andrew Wells-Oberegger – Déjouer le glas

Alfredo Santa Ana – Before the World Sleeps

Alfredo Santa Ana – Before the World Sleeps

BADBADNOTGOOD – Mid Spiral

BADBADNOTGOOD – Mid Spiral

Elisabeth Saint-Gelais – Infini

Elisabeth Saint-Gelais – Infini

Bryn Roberts – Aloft

Bryn Roberts – Aloft

Quatuor Esca – Esca

Quatuor Esca – Esca

Arthur Levering – OceanRiverLake

Arthur Levering – OceanRiverLake

Steven Osborne/London Philharmonic Orchestra, dir.: Edward Gardner – Tippett : Concerto pour piano; Symphonie no 2

Steven Osborne/London Philharmonic Orchestra, dir.: Edward Gardner – Tippett : Concerto pour piano; Symphonie no 2

The inner cinema of composer and sound artist Roxanne Turcotte

The inner cinema of composer and sound artist Roxanne Turcotte

Coup de coeur francophone – Gabriella Olivo + Daria Colonna

Coup de coeur francophone – Gabriella Olivo + Daria Colonna

Guillaume Villeneuve and Quatuor Cobalt’s Reflets du temps

Guillaume Villeneuve and Quatuor Cobalt’s Reflets du temps

N NAO – Pleine Lune

N NAO – Pleine Lune

Coup de cœur francophone | OGB: A Triptych of EPs and A Pair of Jazz Bangereux For a Strong Comeback

Coup de cœur francophone | OGB: A Triptych of EPs and A Pair of Jazz Bangereux For a Strong Comeback

Elisabeth St-Gelais: “Poursuivie par le même rêve” at l’Infini

Elisabeth St-Gelais: “Poursuivie par le même rêve” at l’Infini

Coup de cœur francophone | Sarahmée Ascends The Throne

Coup de cœur francophone | Sarahmée Ascends The Throne

AmyJo Doh & the Spangles – Spangle Landia

AmyJo Doh & the Spangles – Spangle Landia

OSM | Alpine Symphony: When Woods Become Sherpas

OSM | Alpine Symphony: When Woods Become Sherpas

Francis Choinière and OPCM: 10 Seasons And Counting

Francis Choinière and OPCM: 10 Seasons And Counting

Subscribe to our newsletter