# Reger - String Quartet 2 op.54



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Reger's 2nd String Quartet in A major almost mirrors the first quartet stylistically at first but is made up of 3 movements not 4. At just over 20 mins it's Reger's shortest quartet and not one of my favourites, tbh. Again we begin with a restless, disjointed first movement, Allegro assai e bizarro, with the theme and tempo constantly shifting and changing. Like the first quartet this is not entirely successful and leads to some rather congested and frustrating passages that seem to go nowhere fast. The 2nd movement andante is adorned by a set of variations and is much more interesting but it in no ways is better than the slow movement in the first quartet. The finale, Allegro Vivace con spirito, is a pleasant, lighthearted ditty which sounds almost Mozartian in style, dancing and skipping till the end. According to Edition Silvertrust "No. 2 is memorably taken up with the hurly-burly of some dangerous street scene in which death flits among the crowd: a work of character but ultimately draining.". Whilst I don't hear that particular explanation I do agree it's one of the weaker Reger works and is a draining listen even for such a short piece. A similar result to the first quartet as far as recordings go so check out my 1st quartet review for comments about performance style and sound. 

Recommended

Berner
Reger (1973) 

*Better* 

*Mannheimer 
Drolc *

As I said, it's not a quartet I particularly enjoy (apart from the finale) so apologies for not going into great depth about these recordings.


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