Roger Sessions: Quintet; Quartet (1997)

A quick glance at his discography reveals that Roger Sessions' chamber works are seriously under-recorded, so this 1993 recording by the Group for Contemporary Music on Koch International Classics is a welcome addition to a lamentably meager catalog. Listeners just beginning to explore his fascinating music may choose to start off with the String Quartet No. 1 in E minor (1938), since it bears some interesting resemblances to Beethoven's String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, and is a product of Sessions' neo-Classical phase. ... Read More

A quick glance at his discography reveals that Roger Sessions' chamber works are seriously under-recorded, so this 1993 recording by the Group for Contemporary Music on Koch International Classics is a welcome addition to a lamentably meager catalog. Listeners just beginning to explore his fascinating music may choose to start off with the String Quartet No. 1 in E minor (1938), since it bears some interesting resemblances to Beethoven's String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, and is a product of Sessions' neo-Classical phase. Even though it is not tonal in the traditional sense (it only touches on key-like areas tangentially, and vaguely implies chromatic modulations in its active developments), this early quartet is not one of Sessions' more advanced dodecaphonic compositions. The other important work on the program, the Quintet for two violins, two violas, and cello (1958), is more challenging than the comparatively accessible string quartet, yet it is more deeply satisfying, especially so for those... Read Less