Korngold, Erich Wolfgang - String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26

Work: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26
Composer: Korngold, Erich Wolfgang (29 May 1897 — 29 November 1957)
Year(s) of composition: 1933
Year of first publication: 1937
Performer(s): Doric String Quartet

I. Allegro. (00:15)
II. Allegretto con moto. (5:55)
III. Lento. (9:34)
IV. Tempo di Valse. (16:51)

Korngold - The String Quartets: https://www.chandos.net/products/cata...

Korngold - String Sextet / Piano Quintet: https://www.chandos.net/products/cata...

Reviewing the Aron Quartett's recording of Korngold's string quartets for Fanfare Magazine, James A. Altena writes that "[the Op. 26 string quartet] is a microcosm of melodic and harmonic devices that Korngold would employ so brilliantly in years to come as a composer of film scores. Given Hitler’s recent assumption of power in neighboring Germany, the first, second, and fourth movements would almost seem to be a perverse denial of reality. The opening Allegro epitomizes the skittish music of the Hollywood light romance; the Scherzo is all charming, gently smiling bustle; the Finale is, improbably, a witty, chatty waltz, but one of a decidedly un-Straussian character. All the more surprising, then, is the third-movement Larghetto, beginning with open harmonics like an icy chill (almost hinting at the Second Viennese School), eventually succeeded by a melody of melancholic yearning that seeks to cling to a wistfully remembered but unrecoverable comfort and security."