# Bloch: String Quartets



## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

Greetings.

I've been listening to these for a while now. When I mention them to other fellow string quartet fans, I'm met with a blank stare. Certainly some 20th-c. string quartets deserving of wider recognition and appreciation:









Example: 3rd Quartet:






Exceedingly recommended. As are all of Bloch's chamber works, but that's probably another topic for another thread.

Regards,
-09


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## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

Omicron9 said:


> Greetings.
> 
> I've been listening to these for a while now. When I mention them to other fellow string quartet fans, I'm met with a blank stare. Certainly some 20th-c. string quartets deserving of wider recognition and appreciation:
> 
> ...


How do you find the sound on the Griller Quartets recording--do you have the CD or are hearing it on youtube. The music is on my list for this year, and I have a choice of the Griller or the Portland String Quartet which is another older recording. Its interesting that I think there has not been a new recording in years. In the Paper Back "Chamber Music"published by Penguin Books (1957) Bloch had a chapter devoted to his quartets,but 50 years later no one plays his chamber music.
Though the book is dated in several respects, if you can read music its worth looking fro a used copy.


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

Quartetfore said:


> How do you find the sound on the Griller Quartets recording--do you have the CD or are hearing it on youtube. The music is on my list for this year, and I have a choice of the Griller or the Portland String Quartet which is another older recording. Its interesting that I think there has not been a new recording in years. In the Paper Back "Chamber Music"published by Penguin Books (1957) Bloch had a chapter devoted to his quartets,but 50 years later no one plays his chamber music.
> Though the book is dated in several respects, if you can read music its worth looking fro a used copy.


I have the CD set. The recordings were from the early-to-mid 1950s. All in mono. Decca has remastered them, and sound surprisingly good for their age. A bit dry, but good clarity and you can hear each voice. Recommended. This recording doesn't sound like a historical recording, in my opinion.

There is also a modern version on Arabesque with the Portland quartet. That recording is in stereo, but again pretty dry like it was recorded in an almost-dead acoustic recording studio. I have both the Portland and the Griller. My two cents: I prefer the performance of the Griller, tho I wish there was a better performance in a modern recording. But overall, I quite recommend this set over the Portland. I think if more people heard these pieces, they'd be performed and recorded more frequently.

One advantage of the Portland recordings is that they cover his 5th quartet, which was not composed at the time of the Griller recordings. However, the Portland recordings are not available as a set; you must purchase three separate CDs.

Some interesting background here:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/apr04/Bloch_Vols2_3.htm

Regards,
-09


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## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

Thanks for the infomation!
Quartetfore.


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