Royal SQ Moniuszko, Szymanowski, Bacewicz : String Quartets

The Pearls of Polish Music Masterpieces of Polish Chamber Music [1]
Quartets of Moniuszko, Szymanowski, Bacewicz

Stanislaw Moniuszko: String Quartet No. 1 in D minor
Karol Szymanowski: String Quartet No. 2 Op. 56
Grazyna Bacewicz: String Quartet No. 4

ROYAL STRING QUARTET - Izabella Szalaj-Zimak, violin - Elwira Przybylowska, violin - Marek Czech, viola - Michal Pepol, cello

Recorded 2006
SACD Hybrid: SACD Surround 5.0, SACD Stereo, CD Audio Stereo

Without belittling the contribution of 19th-century composers to the development of chamber music, there is no doubt that it was members of the Young Poland group in the early 20th century, notably Karol Szymanowski, who imbued string quartet writing with a stamp of freshness and originality, giving it a new and important role. From that time onwards, the string quartet has never ceased to be an area of exploring innovative and experimental ideas by all prominent Polish composers.

The string quartets by Stanislaw Moniuszko, Karol Szymanowski and Grazyna Bacewicz featured on this SACD are very representative for the periods in which they were composed. They are examples of various kinds of musical expression and form of the string quartet in its specifically Polish shape. ( BEARTON )