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

Semaine du Neuf | The Power of the Organ and the Wind

Semaine du Neuf | The Power of the Organ and the Wind

Semaine du Neuf | Sturm und Klang

Semaine du Neuf | Sturm und Klang

Semaine du Neuf | Collectif9 : musical hero for everyone

Semaine du Neuf | Collectif9 : musical hero for everyone

Semaine du Neuf | Afghanistan, looking back at us

Semaine du Neuf | Afghanistan, looking back at us

Turtle Skull – Heavy as Hell

Turtle Skull – Heavy as Hell

Bob Em – Johnie Worker

Bob Em – Johnie Worker

Semaine du Neuf | There Is No Music Without the Wind. L’être contre le vent by Matthias Krüger

Semaine du Neuf | There Is No Music Without the Wind. L’être contre le vent by Matthias Krüger

Lemon Lemon – Hammock

Lemon Lemon – Hammock

Ooberfuse – “Hard Times ft Snoop Dogg”

Ooberfuse – “Hard Times ft Snoop Dogg”

Semaine du Neuf: Architek Percussion au service de 2 architectures

Semaine du Neuf: Architek Percussion au service de 2 architectures

Deena Abdelwahed’s Swana electro: syncretism, commitment, a new standard

Deena Abdelwahed’s Swana electro: syncretism, commitment, a new standard

Disaster Pony

Disaster Pony

The Cool Trad of Nicolas Boulerice and Frédéric Samson

The Cool Trad of Nicolas Boulerice and Frédéric Samson

Semaine du Neuf | VIVIERMIX // QUASAR + NEM + FIOLÛTRÖNIQ

Semaine du Neuf | VIVIERMIX // QUASAR + NEM + FIOLÛTRÖNIQ

Jeremy Leon – Affinity

Jeremy Leon – Affinity

Florie Valiquette / Ensemble Il Caravaggio / Chœur de l’Opéra Royal / Camille Delaforge, dir. – Mademoiselle Duval : Les Génies

Florie Valiquette / Ensemble Il Caravaggio / Chœur de l’Opéra Royal / Camille Delaforge, dir. – Mademoiselle Duval : Les Génies

Reinoud van Mechelen / a nocte temporis / Choeur de Chambre de Namur – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre : Céphale et Procris

Reinoud van Mechelen / a nocte temporis / Choeur de Chambre de Namur – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre : Céphale et Procris

Semaine du Neuf | Lascaux + Mad Max

Semaine du Neuf | Lascaux + Mad Max

Semaine du Neuf | Psychedelic Afghanistan by Sam Shalabi and Shaista Latif

Semaine du Neuf | Psychedelic Afghanistan by Sam Shalabi and Shaista Latif

Semaine du Neuf | Sixtrum: the magic of… aquatic percussion!

Semaine du Neuf | Sixtrum: the magic of… aquatic percussion!

Semaine du Neuf | Ice, Creation, and Immersion

Semaine du Neuf | Ice, Creation, and Immersion

Tristan Murail – Le partage des eaux / Terre d’ombre

Tristan Murail – Le partage des eaux / Terre d’ombre

Subscribe to our newsletter