CD 79
String Quartets 1
Zams and Kronburg, about 1850, Josef Netzer’s place of birth
Josef Netzer came from Zams in the Upper Tyrol. As a practically penniless twenty-year-old he went to the cosmopolitan city of Vienna to perfect his extraordinary musical talent under famous teachers. It was in the last year of Franz Schubert’s life that Netzer became his trusted friend and the two of them often played piano duets together. Schubert appreciated his Tyrolean friend not only as a soul mate but also as a musician. Suggesting silent longing and quiet grieving, the atmosphere of Schubertian music is omnipresent particularly in Netzer’s first string quartet. He created this whole-hearted work in 1836 right after he had completed his studies with the famous musical theorist Simon Sechter, who was later to become the teacher of Anton Bruckner. Ten years after this impressive fi rst work, Netzer composed his second string quartet. By then he had advanced to a successful composer. Netzer had caused a sensation in Vienna with his symphonies. Their premieres were performed by the court opera orchestra, the precursor of world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic, in the court opera that is today’s Vienna State Opera House, under his direction. They were applauded by everyone. Netzer’s most important work, his opera “Mara,” was also premiered in the music capital of Vienna to great acclaim and became an international success. This recognition as a celebrated composer had a lasting effect on Netzer’s works. Especially the second string quartet dating from 1846 shows his ease and assured mastery. This quartet is rightly considered his most classical one.
Track 5, 1:50
Streichquartett Nr. 2 in D-major
Allegro molto