The Juilliard String Quartet Releases Complete 1975 Cycle of Schoenberg String Quartets

The new 7-CD collection features the complete cycle of Schoenberg String Quartets, Verklärte Nacht, and his String Trio

Sony Classical has released a new album, The Juilliard String Quartet Plays Schoenberg, in celebration of Schoenberg's 150th anniversary. Arnold Schoenberg was one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century and a leader in modernism.

The album includes a new 7-CD collection of the complete 1975 Juilliard Schoenberg recordings. For comparison, recordings from 1966 and 1985 are included as well. Sony Classical also released all of Boulez's Schoenberg recordings for CBS/Columbia in a 13-CD box in addition to the Juilliard Quartet's 7-disc set.

After years of regularly performing the quartets in concert, the Juilliard Quartet decided to re-record the quartets in 1975 because of their evolving interpretations, particularly adding a romantic approach to String Quartets No. 3 and No. 4. The set won them the 1977 Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance.

The string quartet recordings feature past Juilliard Quartet members violinists Robert Mann and Earl Carlyss, violist Samuel Rhodes, and cellist Joel Krosnick. In addition to the string quartets, the Juilliard Quartet was joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma for Schoenberg's String Trio Op. 45 and both violist Walter Trampler and cellist Yo-Yo Ma for Verklärte Nacht Op. 4.

Listen to Verklärte Nacht Op. 4 below

To purchase and listen to the album, click here.

The Juilliard String Quartet comprises violinists Areta Zhulla and Ronald Copes, violist Molly Carr, and cellist Astrid Schween. They serve as the String Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School and host their annual Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in May. The Quartet’s recordings of the Bartók and Schoenberg Quartets, as well as those of Debussy, Ravel, and Beethoven, have won Grammy Awards, and in 2011 the JSQ became the first classical music ensemble to receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.