Ferdinand Ries: Flute Quartets, Vol. 2

It is our good fortune that Ferdinand Ries bequeathed to posterity six remarkably beautiful Quartets for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Violoncello. These compositions sparkle like gems in the early Romantic chamber literature including the flute. On the present release, Vol. 2 of our complete recording, his Quartets in G major WoO 35, 2 and E minor op. 145, 2 as well as his remarkable String Trio in E minor WoO 70, 2 are heard. On the one hand, conventional elements verging on practically Baroque sequential processes stand out in the trio. On the other hand, here we also find innovative musical surprises and full-fledged, motivically organized development sections, above all in the fourth movement. The violin part is very exceptionally demanding. In any event, the young Ries was able to compose a work representing a highly expressive contribution to the not exactly large number of string trios. In the chamber compositions recorded here Ries once again presents himself as a composer who experienced musical classicism firsthand and adapted it but then increasingly pursued his own path and found a unique personal style marking the beginning of a new worldview. Following the release of our Vol. 1, Heinz Braun enthusiastically wrote: “I freely concede that over the years I have become a glowing admirer of the Bonn master and have impatiently awaited each new release. In the present case too, the wait has been well worth it. The Ardinghello Ensemble with the flutist Karl Kaiser succeeds overall with its fine sense of sound, supported by Manuel Braun’s outstanding sound technique.”