Leipziger Streichquartett - Andreas Romberg: String Quartets, Vol.1 (2000)

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Leipziger Streichquartett - Andreas Romberg: String Quartets, Vol.1 (2000)

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Born in Vechta in northwestern Germany, Andreas Romberg (1767-1821) began touring throughout Europe as a violinist at age 6 with his cousin Bernard. After working in orchestras in Bonn, Hamburg, Paris and Vienna, where he concertized with Beethoven, he succeeded Louis Spohr as the court music director for Duke August of Gotha, Thuringia. Well regarded during his lifetime, Romberg's decline can be traced directly to the ascendency of his more famous contemporary. Tracking the number of public performances of Beethoven's string quartets versus Romberg's reveals an inverse relationship.
Composer of 30 some string quartets, he took Haydn's mature works as his model, following the older man's 4 movement scheme as a matter of course while experimenting both with the sequence as well as the internal design. Likely written several years earlier, these three quartets of Op.1 were published in 1799.
After a brief solo statement in the G string of the 1st violin, an abrupt unison passage in minor kicks off the opening `Allegro maetoso' of the F Major quartet, No. 3 in the set. This phrase, with its bold rhythmic clarity and a surprising chromatic dissonance at its end, unifies the first movement. After an extended development section giving the lower strings ample opportunity to spin their own echoes of the violin's theme, it comes to a playful end.
A minor keyed `Andante con espressione' follows, fluid and melancholic. After some wonderful interweaving of the cello and viola lines, the lead violin takes center stage surrounded by softly plucked accompaniment. A lovely pivot modulation in the final bar leads to a seamless transition to a gently swaying `Minuetto, where a restless melody in the 1st violin is balanced with minimal support from the other voices.
Also in triple meter is the concluding `Allegro'. Featuring virtuosic work from the lead violin, this 4th movement is marked by a brilliant upward swooping motif, shared by all four instruments as an accompanying passage and originating in lowest register of each voice.
Written in G Minor, Quartet No.2 opens with sweetly undulating support in the lower strings. Evolving from a series of downward cascading lines, the `Allegro moderato' makes extensive use of counterpoint creating dense textural details and raising this movement to a high compositional level. Following Haydn's model, Romberg here shifts the `Minuetto' into the 2nd position of the composition and has the cello present the initial theme, a superbly evocative tune in syncopated triplets that sticks in the ear. The contrasting trio features a coy lilting exchange between the viola and 1st violin before the earworm returns to draw the work to a muted close.
After a leisurely beginning that suspends conventional rhythm, the `Andante con moto' contains virtuosic passage work in the bass line. Evolving into a dense tapestry of interweaving lines with the lead violin supplying the driving `con moto', the 3rd movement ends in a striking unison phrase.
The 2 part finale begins with a `Poco adagio' driven by a walking bass line, almost jazz-like in its modernity. The top 3 voices follow seemingly disconnected lines that converge just before the concluding `Presto' erupts. Spurred on by virtuosic fiddling from the 1st violin, sharp plucked notes interspersed with furious passage work make for a memorable finish - or so it seems. With another nod to Haydn, two false endings arrive before the final doubled pizzicato notes do.
Romberg's debt to Haydn is particularly noteworthy in the E Flat quartet. The opening bars of the `Allegro' sound like a concluding cadenza, while deriving the 2nd theme of the sonata-form from elements of the 1st is pure Haydn. Elastic tempos mark this 1st movement, with extended fermatas and judicious use of protracted silences creating emotional depth.
The shy playfulness of the following `Minuetto', the abrupt stops and starts, and the dislocation of time and meter are all `Haydnesque'. Grounded by a solemn counter melody in the cello, a deeply prayerful `Andante sostenuto' opens the two part 3rd movement. A dancing `Allegro' emerges to set to up the ensuing `Allegro non troppo'. A scurrying violin opens the finale, which features extended counterpoint writing and a lively exchange that evolves into animated chattering before falling completely silent. The 1st violin returns to lead to a rousing conclusion, and an impish coda.
The recording by MDG is excellent, bright and crisp. The technical demands that Romberg placed on the first violin and the cello are extensive, and Andreas Seidel and the wonderfully named Matthias Moosdorf are equal to the task. With admirable taste and a distinctive flair, the Leipzig Quartet highlights the rich textures and intricate structures of Romberg's works without obscuring the appealing melodies. It's unfortunate that these marvelous compositions have fallen into oblivion. Thankfully, we have this CD to change that.

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Leipziger Streichquartett - Andreas Romberg: String Quartets, Vol.1 (2000)

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