Het Utrecht String Quartet is al ruim tien jaar nationaal en internationaal actief met spraakmakende opnamen van strijkkwartetten van Tschaikowsky en Glazunov, maar ook van Nederlandse componisten als Lex van Delden en Robert de Roos. Dit album is gewijd aan de eerste twee strijkwartetten van Johannes Verhulst, die hij als leerling van Mendelssohn schreef. Deze romantische strijkkwarttetten werden rond 1840 goed ontvangen. Met name Schumann was onder de indruk van het Adagio sostenuto uit het tweede strijkkwartet. Verhulst speelde een grote rol in het Nederlandse muziekleven, maar door zijn weigering om werk van nieuwe componisten als Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner uit te voeren, raakte hij zijn posities kwijt. Met de opname van deze twee pareltjes wordt Verhulst opnieuw onder onze aandacht gebracht.
Johannes Verhulst
(1816-1891)
String Quartets op. 6
Utrecht String Quartet
Double Dutch
During the nineteenth century Johannes Verhulst was
the most influential musician in the Netherlands. He
enjoyed international esteem and as a conductor
initiated the Bach renaissance in Holland. The great
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy himself took the talented
composer under his wing and invited him to study in
Leipzig. The Utrecht String Quartet is now presenting
Verhulst’s first two string quartets on a new CD in
what once again qualifies as a top-quality contribution
to the repertoire.
Discographic Debut
Mendelssohn closely accompanied the composition of
the two quartets. Although Leipzig influence is clearly
audible, Verhulst developed his own very individual
tonal idiom. The broad melodic lines and memorable
strains are reminiscent of Schubert. Moreover, the
first movement of the firs
t quartet places the highest
technical demands on the instrumentalists. This is a
task completely in keeping with the taste of our
Utrecht musicians, who perform the discographic
premiere of their fellow Dutchman’s works with
sovereign facility and fresh élan.
Mutual Support
Verhulst’s slow movements have a special appeal.
Robert Schumann was absolutely enthusiastic about
the wonderful Adagio sostenuto of the first quartet and
called special attention to its personal tonal language.
Verhulst also had great admiration for Schumann’s
music. When he later was appointed to the post of
court music director in The Hague, making him one of
the most influential personalit
ies in his country’s music
world, he lent special support to Schumann’s music
and to that of his early patron Mendelssohn.
Snail Mail
Verhulst’s career ended on a tragic note. He could not
come to terms with the progressive New German
music of Liszt and Wagner and initially succeeded in
blocking its introduction in the Netherlands. However,
the spirit of the times
gradually gained the advantage,
and Verhulst’s star increasingly faded. In a letter of
1844 Robert Schumann applied for his permission to
dedicate his op. 52 to him, but the delivery of this
request was delayed for thirty
-eight years. By then
Schumann had been dead for many years, and the
letter could offer the forgotten Verhulst nothing more
than belated consolation.
