Hyperion UK
2005
Hummel: Three String Quartets
About This Album
It is certainly unfair to judge Johann Nepomuk Hummel's modest String Quartets (3), Op. 30, against Beethoven's incalculably greater oeuvre, but a consideration of these works inevitably leads to comparisons. Hummel's conservative and inoffensive quartets go no further than the models established by Haydn and Mozart. While Beethoven's developments of the form in the Op. 18 quartets were probably known to Hummel, he could not have been expected to absorb or use them -- indeed, the magnitude of Beethoven's accomplishments eluded most of his contemporaries for decades. So it is best to view Hummel's quartets in the proper context, as genial chamber works by a composer who was only dabbling in the medium. That said, the Quartets (3) are charming in their repartee and vigorously developed, and listeners may enjoy them as pleasant Classical diversions without requiring them to be essential masterpieces. The Delmé Quartet surely does not, though it delivers Hummel's works with a fine balance of humor and pathos, and accords the music enough elegance and depth of feeling to make them worth at least one hearing. These recordings were first released in 1992 on Hyperion, and this 2005 reissue on Helios preserves the original masters' fine sound quality. ~ Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide
Track List

String Quartet No. 1 In C Major, Op. 30/1
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String Quartet No. 2 In G Major, Op. 30/2
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String Quartet No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 30/3
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