The Virtuoso String Quartet, with which I have dealt more extensively in
this post, was founded late in 1923 by four British musicians apparently for the express purpose of making recordings. While earlier string quartet ensembles (such as the Flonzaley, Catterall and Lener String Quartets) had begun their recording careers by being limited to making potboilers, isolated movements and abridgements from the string quartet repertoire before being permitted to record complete works, the Virtuoso String Quartet took the opposite trajectory during their brief career in the studios (1924-29). They began by recording complete quartets by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Franck for HMV's more expensive Black Label series, but by 1927, had been switched to the cheaper Plum Label, and were recording potboilers! Among them were these two charming miniatures:
Gossec: Tambourin (arr. Cedric Sharpe)
Grainger: Molly on the Shore
Virtuoso String Quartet (Hayward-Virgo-Jeremy-Sharpe)
Recorded July 1, 1927
HMV B 2589, one 10-inch 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 16.40 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 9.56 MB)
I should mention that at the same time as I acquired this record, I also got the Virtuoso String Quartet's 1925 acoustical set of the Franck Quartet in D, in its original album. This can be heard already at the
CHARM website which has some 40 sides by the VSQ available for audition, some of them overlapping my offerings at the other post. (They don't, however, have B 2589.) But if there is any interest in my transfer I will attempt it (I probably will, anyway, sooner or later!).
Thank you for sharing your excellent transfers of this great quartet. Please do make your transfer of the Franck Quartet in D. Many thanks.
ReplyDeletethanks for this well-done transfer.
Deleteand i do also join to this plea, hoping to hear more interesting transfer of Franck masterpiece.
and, again, thanks a lot for this recording. i loved Grainger's 'Molly on the Shore' from the very first listening about 25 yrs ago. and the pre-war quartet playing art was and remains still, to my shame, known in just a few ensemble names performing some well-known and often recorded masterpieces.
Yes, I love Molly too, and this is a cracking performance and transfer, thank you! I'm intrigued and frustrated by the Gossec. The British Library has a set of parts of this arrangement, published by Chester supposedly in 1928, for which the catalogue adds the note, 'Uniform Title: Le Camp de Grand-Pré'. That's the alternative title of his divertissement lyrique Le Triomphe de la République - but if you look through the original score on IMSLP, there's no Tambourin. On the other hand, Burmester has this tune as No.28 of his Stücke alter Meister for violin... I wonder if it's authentic? Has anyone checked Burmester for Kreisleresque passings off? I know, I must go and check Creighton again. I really wish I had a copy at home! Thanks again all the best, Nick
ReplyDeleteHi Nick, save yourself the trouble of checking Creighton because I already did - last time I was at the library - and he also says it's from "Le Triomphe de la République." But I admit I'm as perplexed as you are, for I also looked through the IMSLP score and couldn't find it either. The piece seems to have lately become the province of flute players, if the frequency with which it turns up in this arrangement on YouTube is any indication!
DeleteLovely! I do love their Ravel Intro & Allegro and the Beethovens you posted earlier. Thanks, Bryan!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bryan! By the way, as I'm sure you know, some of the Virtuoso's complete sets are pretty rare - their Tchaikovsky Op.11 and Ravel, for instance. If you or anyone you know have those... Best wishes, Nick
ReplyDeleteIf only...! I've never seen nor heard the Tchaikovsky or Ravel sets, likewise the Beethoven op.59/3, complete Bridge Idylls and the two middle movements of the Grieg op.27. And those, I think, are all the issued VSQ I've not heard. Of course, part of the reason I do what I do here is in the hopes that others will come forward and fill in my gaps!
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