Quartet de corda núm. 1 (String Quartet #1) (Complete set)

The work is structured in four independent movements. The first movement is a revision of a short string quartet that I wrote while studying at the Conservatory of Music of Barcelona and that was premiered later, in June of 1990, in the auditorium of the Conservatory. The last movement is a revision of another brief piece, Vals, that was performed on 17th September 1998 by the Quartet Homs within the Festival de Música Viva of Vic (Barcelona). The definitive work complete with the other two movements was premiered on 13th November 2002 by the quartet of soloists of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) lead by Angel Jesus Garcia (violin), and completed by Ana Galán (violin), Miquel Serrahima (viola) and José Mor (cello), at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA).

Commenting on the premiere of the work, the music critic Jorge of Persia wrote in the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia: “Still in times of the aesthetic of distance, personal and expressive elements tend to appear in quartets. The “Quartet n.º 1 Op. 7” by Anna Cazurra has suggestive resources, an attractive processing of the sound, with body and effects which envelope the listener; a warm atmosphere in the second part with lyrical phrases that seek their harmonic context; inspired counterpoint in the third part and  very musical the fourth, with an insistent waltz that establishes a good dramatic dialogue. In short, good music”. (La Vanguardia, 13th November 2002).

(Anna Cazurra)

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