Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) - String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op.44, No. 1 (1838) I. Molto allegro vivace [0:00] II. Menuetto. Un poco allegretto [12:51] III. Andante espressivo ma con moto [18:24] IV. Finale. Presto con brio [23:49] Emerson String Quartet (2004) The String Quartet No. 3 in D major is the first of Mendelssohn's three Op. 44 string quartets, which he dedicated to the Crown Prince of Sweden. The work is in four movements and typically lasts around 30 minutes. "The first of Felix Mendelssohn's Three Quartets, Op. 44, was in fact the last to be composed, being finished some 13 months after he first began work on the set. But this String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44, No. 1, which bears the date July 24, 1838 (but, like the other Op. 44 works, was revised a bit before going to print in 1839), seems to have been Mendelssohn's own favorite among the three, and so it merited the No. 1 slot. (Numbering and order of composition rarely go hand-in-hand in Mendelssohn's catalog: his two earlier quartets, Opp. 12 and 13, for example, were composed two years apart in the 'wrong' order, and the ordering of the symphonies is entirely out of whack.) The D major Quartet was first heard in February 1839 and, although there are many who would place its E minor companion piece (Op. 44, No. 2) above it on the musical totem-pole, Mendelssohn's belief that people would cherish it for its unusual 'passion' (the composer's word, in a letter to his violinist friend Ferdinand David) has, over the years, proved well-founded. The quartet has four movements, strung together in the same order as are the movements of the other two Op. 44 quartets: sonata-allegro -- scherzo -- slow movement -- finale. The soaring first violin melody, with the help of the quietly simmering second violin and viola and sure-footed 'thunks' from the cello, that opens the Molto allegro vivace is as warm and full-blooded as a quartet idea can get; the second theme is, however, cast in the rather more subdued region of F sharp minor (B minor in the recapitulation), and maintains a dignified homophonic chorale tone. Mendelssohn moves a step backward, historically-speaking, and substitutes a Menuetto for a scherzo-proper (the minuet itself being the movement that the scherzo was originally the substitute for: a nod from Mendelssohn in the direction of the eighteenth-century traditions that were, and would always be, his musical lifeline). Marked Un poco allegretto, this is well-bred, genteel music; some twirling first violin eighth notes, taken up almost half-heartedly by the other instruments, however, save the music from collapsing from the weight of too many good manners. The Andante espressivo con moto slow movement in B minor has a magical texture: transparent pizzicati fro ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m3nb-BqX8g

Väinö Raitio (1891 - 1945) - Four Colour Poems for piano, Op. 22 (1923) I. Haavan lehdet (Aspen Leaves) [0:00] II. Punahattaroita (Red Cloudlets) [1:34] III. Kellastunut koivu (The Yellowed Birch) [4:51] IV. Auringonsavua (Haze) [8:36] Jean Dubé, piano (2018) Väinö Raitio's Four Colour Poems, Op. 22 is a set of pieces for solo piano typically lasting around 12 minutes. "Four Colour Poems for Piano is one of the most remarkable works of the Finnish piano literature, although it has never, as far as known, been performed in public during the composer's lifetime. In this modernistic piano suite from the 20s Raitio's love for the piano, which was his instrument, combines with his love for orchestral colours. Raitio's highly personal musical language, a synthesis of late romantic, impressionistic and expressionistic elements, appears here in all its splendour as to different scales, harmony, texture and registers - in short: different atmospheres. The orchestral texture of this work necessitates a very skilled pedalling even where no pedal marks occur." (source: Ritva Haanpää in the preface to the score) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtPBtzb65Ss

Charles Tournemire (1870 - 1939) - Etudes de chaque jour, Op. 70 (1935 - 1936) I. Gammes [0:00] II. Arpèges [2:26] III. Staccato [4:49] IV. Trilles [5:50] V. Notes répétées [7:34] VI. Sauts [9:55] VII. Chant [10:44] VIII. Sonorités [13:59] Marie-Catherine Girod, piano (1990) Charles Tournemire's Etudes de chaque jour, Op. 70 is a set of 8 etudes, Tournemire's last work for solo piano. Each etude is primarily focused on a specific technical challenge, like trills ("Trilles") or large jumps ("Sauts"). A performance of the whole set lasts around 18 minutes. Original audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4cvliZG34 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUdwhrkXbD4

Charles Tournemire (1870 - 1939) - Sonate-Poème, for violin and piano, Op. 65 (1934 - 1935) Devy Erlih, violin Henriette Puit-Roget, piano (1973) Sonate-Poème, Op. 65 by Charles Tournemire is a work for violin and piano consisting of a single movement that lasts around 18 minutes. Charles Tournemire’s Sonate-Poème, Op. 65, is his second and final work for violin and piano, the first being his Violin Sonata, Op. 1, written in 1892. Unlike the earlier sonata, which is a more conventional four-movement sonata, the Sonate-Poème is in a single movement divided into several smaller sections. The work features dense piano writing that often uses three or four staves, and the violin part, while mostly lyrical, is not without difficulty, either, with many rapid runs. The work displays a complex harmonic language that looks forward to Messiaen at points, along with a constantly changing meter, which gives the piece an improvisatory feel. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLDeKroWhWM