Scintilla: Early Italian String Quartets (DeLuxe) Butter Quartet

• Gaetano Pugnani (1731 - 1798): String Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major:
• 1 Pugnani: String Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major: I. Largo Sostenuto 03:50
• 2 Pugnani: String Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major: II. Allegro Assai 08:28
• 3 Pugnani: String Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major: III. Grave 02:14
• 4 Pugnani: String Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major: IV. Minuetto-Trio 04:38
• Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805): String Quartet, Op. 2 No. 1 in C Minor:
• 5 Boccherini: String Quartet, Op. 2 No. 1 in C Minor: I. Allegro Comodo 05:57
• 6 Boccherini: String Quartet, Op. 2 No. 1 in C Minor: II. Largo 05:51
• 7 Boccherini: String Quartet, Op. 2 No. 1 in C Minor: III. Allegro 05:14
• Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen (1745 - 1818): String Quartet No. 5 in F Major:
• 8 Sirmen: String Quartet No. 5 in F Major: I. Largo - Allegro - Largo 10:04
• 9 Sirmen: String Quartet No. 5 in F Major: II. Minuetto 02:59
• Felice Giardini (1716 - 1796): String Quartet, Op. 25 No. 1 in C Major:
• 10 Giardini: String Quartet, Op. 25 No. 1 in C Major: I. Andante 05:36
• 11 Giardini: String Quartet, Op. 25 No. 1 in C Major: II. Adagio 03:45
• 12 Giardini: String Quartet, Op. 25 No. 1 in C Major: III. Andante 02:22
• Total Runtime 01:00:58

Info for Scintilla: Early Italian String Quartets (DeLuxe)

An exciting young Dutch-based ensemble, performing on gut strings, brings flair and historically informed style to four little-known examples of repertoire from the dawn of the string quartet.

Founded while its members were students of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, the Butter Quartet gives vibrant historically-informed performance focusing on Classical-era repertoire. Within its short history, the Quartet has appeared at several important early-music festivals. At the 2019 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition, they were awarded a place in the prestigious EEEMERGING+ professional development scheme for young European ensembles. With this collection of rarely heard 18th-century quartets from Italy, the Butter Quartet makes a thrilling debut on record. The individuality of each composer is accentuated by their mutual juxtaposition. In their booklet essay for the album, the Quartet members recount combing libraries for early quartets which have been overshadowed by Haydn’s mastery of the genre. All of the composers featured in Scintilla were famous violin virtuosi, with the exception of Boccherini who was a cellist. Their work as performers was inseparable from the music they composed. Italian galant music and performers were characterized by gorgeous tone, operatic sensibilities, and elegant ornamentation.

An E flat major Quartet by Gaetano Pugnani (1731-1798) retains traces of Baroque grammar to its phrasing, while a C minor Quartet by Boccherini (1743-1805) is marked by the surges of pathos that belong to the key signature as reinterpreted by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Maddalena Sirmen (1745-1818) wrote six quartets of which No.5 in F major is a remarkably close-woven and reflective work, hardly a display piece in the tradition of her teacher Tartini but touched throughout with the spirit of subtle innovation we associate with Haydn. Finally, the C major Quartet of Felice Giardini (1716-1796) is distinguished by an unusually rich viola part which may arise from the circumstances of its composition in London, where the composer played his violin with both the painter Thomas Gainsborough and the Prince of Wales, who became King George IV.

Butter Quartet

The Butter Quartet
consists of four musicians brought together by their mutual love of vibrant historically-informed performance of string quartets. They first formed during their studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, but soon developed a passion and dynamic that extended beyond their conservatory years. They have been featured in festivals such as The String Quartet Biënnale Amsterdam (2024), the York Early Music Festival (2023), the Utrecht Early Music Festival (2022), Mozartfest Würzburg (2021) and the Beethoven Academy at the National Forum for Music in Poland (2020). Their performances have also been broadcast on national classical radio in the Netherlands (NPO4), the UK (BBC3), France (France Musique) and Slovenia (RTV Slovenija).

At the 2019 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition, they were awarded a place in the prestigious EEEMERGING+ professional development scheme for young European ensembles.

Booklet for Scintilla: Early Italian String Quartets (DeLuxe)