# Piano quintets



## millionrainbows

*Not a poll!

I'm listening to Ernest Bloch's (1880-1959) Piano Quintets at present. These are tonal, but extendedly so; I hear snatches of Stravinsky-like bitonalty, areas of diminished sounds, parallel chords, all the harmonic devices we would expect, and always driving and rhythmic in the fast sections. I suppose he's a neo-romantic. The pieces build-up to climaxes in areas, like a restless series of waves. Bloch definitely has one of the most severe cases of "diminished-itis" that I've ever heard; his picture should be placed next to my term, should it ever make its way into standard usage.

The Portland String Quartet (that's Maine, not Oregon) is one of my favorite quartets. They sound "old timey," kind of 1930's, with no lack of vibrato when called for. Maybe that's the Julliard influence. Recorded in 1990, in Theatre A at the State University of New York at Purchase, this Arabesque label recording gets a certain "dry" treatment from the engineer. I'm not sure if this is the nature of the venue, or if it was miked without ambience on purpose, but I like it. The engineer, Fred D. Laiko, also recorded this Quartet in Bloch's First Quartet at CBS Studio B, NY, in 1982, so I suspect it is Laiko's miking technique that I'm hearing, producing the same deliciously dry results in both instances. Whatever "ambience" I need can be supplied by my own listening room.*

•-------------------------->


----------



## Quartetfore

The only recording I have of his Chamber Music is the first Piano Quintet and I like it very much. The Quintet on the CD is Amy Beach`s Piano Quintet which I don`t like at all. Ir`s Brahms with out the genius.


----------



## Guest

I like this recording of the Quintets:


----------



## Head_case

I've been eyeing that disc for some time. 

My Ernest Bloch string quartets are by the Griller Quartet (rather old recordings) and a recent one by the Galatea Quartet but very well played. I had hoped the Kocian was going to release the string quartet cycle before the piano quintets. 

If it's on Praga Digitalis, you know it's going to be really superbly recorded. This record company really redefines the standards.


----------



## Vaneyes

Head_case said:


> I've been eyeing that disc for some time.
> 
> My Ernest Bloch string quartets are by the Griller Quartet (rather old recordings) and a recent one by the Galatea Quartet but very well played. I had hoped the Kocian was going to release the string quartet cycle before the piano quintets.
> 
> If it's on Praga Digitalis, you know it's going to be really superbly recorded. This record company really redefines the standards.


I've only sampled Bloch's chamber. My favorite work is Pro Arte's rec. of String Quartet 1. They kick *** with it. SQs 2 - 5 do nothing for me (a perceived sameness about them).

I don't care for the Piano Quintets, but have not yet heard Kocian Qt's rec. I'm bullish on that group, also.


----------



## Guest

Head_case said:


> I've been eyeing that disc for some time.
> 
> My Ernest Bloch string quartets are by the Griller Quartet (rather old recordings) and a recent one by the Galatea Quartet but very well played. I had hoped the Kocian was going to release the string quartet cycle before the piano quintets.
> 
> If it's on Praga Digitalis, you know it's going to be really superbly recorded. This record company really redefines the standards.


Indeed, this is superbly recorded and intensely performed.


----------



## jurianbai

I remember listen to a complete disc of Pro Arte String Quartet, borrow from somewhere. Good impression on that for mr Bloch.

























http://amzn.to/VoglID


----------



## Head_case

Vaneyes said:


> I've only sampled Bloch's chamber. My favorite work is Pro Arte's rec. of String Quartet 1. They kick *** with it. SQs 2 - 5 do nothing for me (a perceived sameness about them).
> 
> I don't care for the Piano Quintets, but have not yet heard Kocian Qt's rec. I'm bullish on that group, also.


No.I is the one I listen to most; like much contemporary Swiss music, it takes some real listening to tease out the pleasure in the music. I find the Galatea Quartet's release of Bloch's short pieces very attractive:

You can hear the plaintive beauty in his writing just from the demo music on their website:

http://www.galatea-quartet.com/

Those fake autumn leaves superimposed on their imaged portrait in the woodlands annoys me. You don't need a digital expert to see how fake it is. But that's just me lol.

Yes the Kocian Quartet will leave you penniless if you get all their releases (along with the Prazak Quartet lol). I rarely have succeeded in getting any of their CDs at anything less than full price.


----------



## Head_case

> I remember listen to a complete disc of Pro Arte String Quartet, borrow from somewhere. Good impression on that for mr Bloch.


Oh no. I don't have any of these 

Mine is equally dated


----------



## Vaneyes

IIRC Pro Arte is c1996, so the door's open for other QTs to get creative and challenge.


----------



## Head_case

Surprisingly, it's not well serviced! Especially the no.I which is epic. 

My recording of the Griller Quartet comes from 1954...!

I seem to have a thing for historical recordings - I really like the playing styles of the older era. The old black and white photographs on the album covers of formal straight laced string quartet players are really cool too. They look like they are Soviet spies on a mission.


----------



## Vaneyes

First time I heard No. 1, I said to myself, "This is a monster."


----------



## violadude

I have the Griller recording of his string quartets (-#5) as well. I go on and off as to whether I like these pieces much or not. Like Vaneyes, #1 definitely stands out for me. I also think #3 is actually pretty good and it's the most concise (amongst quartets 1-4 at least). Unfortunately, I think #2 goes on way too long without having much distinctive about it and #4 is just kind of...boring. But I come back to them from time to time to see if my opinion has changed yet.


----------



## PetrB

So weird, the 'modernist vocabulary very healthy, sounding sincere and 'well handled,' while almost every gesture is thoroughly romantic - and a bit of schmeer _(mit schmaltz)_ to my ears. Odd simultaneity of elements


----------



## Head_case

PetrB said:


> So weird, the *'modernist vocabulary very healthy*, sounding sincere and '*well handled*,' while almost every gesture is thoroughly *romantic* - and a bit of schmeer (mit *schmaltz*)to my ears. Odd simultaneity of elements


What else can we expect ...from a trilingual country which brought us the reliable handing of the Swiss made precision watch with schmoozy romantic chocolate in little boxes?

Granted, Bloch moved to the United States....pretty much fitting in with that odd simultaneity of elements lol


----------



## millionrainbows

Thanks to everyone who posted images and links. The *Galatea* recording sounds very well-recorded, plus, these are lesser-known Bloch works. Yes, the digital autumn leaves are bad, but their "Chamber Soul" cover art is terminally cheezy. I'll admit that Bloch is not the most profound composer, but I find his work to be well-crafted and a pleasant exercise in tonal listening, about on par with David Diamond. A lot of my opinion might be changed if I hear some of these other recordings, so I haven't given up on him yet.


----------



## clavichorder

I like Bloch a lot sometimes, but I am less impressed with him when his music takes on a jewish sound. The concerto grosso are really neat in parts. Pleasant exercise in tonal listening fits that very well, although I disagree that David Diamond is on par with Bloch; Bloch sounds cleaner and sometimes more interesting to the ear too, like in the Piano Quintet. Maybe I just like Bloch more because he's more old school. 

I have wanted to get more into the Piano Quintet; it is interesting and seems deep from the start, but I have trouble following it till the end based on recordings I've heard.


----------

