# Reger - String Quartet 3 op.74 (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

German composer, Max Reger, finished his 3rd quartet, in D minor, in 1904. Its an intriguing but again frustrating work and marks a further move away from the late romantic quartet and into a more personalised soundworld of his own. It's in four movements and both the first and third movements are extremely lengthy and Reger considered them the heart of his quartet. The first movement is clearer in melody at times but still littered with Reger's disruptive harmonies, so it maintains edge, even looking forward to a subtle move away from tonality which was hinted at in previous quartets. There's a strange distant, almost melancholic atmosphere, beginning with dissonances, then moving into melodic passages, before becoming sadder and softer (one critic called it "Schoenberg meets Brahms". Here the music again breaks up before it ends romantically. The problem I have here, as with the 3rd movement, is its just too long and the ideas presented are scattergun (20 minutes for a 1st movement is massive). The short, much better 2nd movement with its skittish, dancing rhythms and occasional pizzicati is a delight and is even broken up by a very short but beautifully done melancholic passage before returning to its dancing rhythm till the end. The 3rd movement is again lengthy (far too drawn-out, IMO) like the first, beginning with an almost symphonic, pastoral air. After that the rest of the movement swells between drama and quiet melodic contemplation in a set of variations. There are lots of themes developed (some successfully but many others not) and many changes of tempo. For me it's a movement that needed to be more concise and detracts from the appeal of this quartet. The finale returns to the high-jinx of the 2nd movement. Using chords and double stops the movement begins smilingly. After a short, slow melody the jollity resumes and is followed by spirited playing in constantly shifting tempos until the end. Only a handful of recordings to go at.

*Recommended

Berner* - The Berner capture the mystery well but their account is the longest of all at over 53 minutes (that's 5 minutes longer than the Drolc) so it's also a feat of endurance, even if they play well and create a big more symphonic sound. 
*Reger* - the 1973 recording is clear (and the vinyl rip I heard was good) and again this has a definite air of mystery. A set that's still in need of a remaster and re-release.

*More recommended

Mannheimer* - the best sounding recording here, this reminds me of the older Reger Vox recording stylistically but in far better sound,
*Drolc* - currently, this is marginally my top choice here, not just because its the shortest at 48 minutes but their full (if a little dated) sound seems the most appropriate. They may not have as much dynamism or nuance as the Mannheimer but they have lots of drama and feel much brisker across the piece than they are.


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