From Amazon.co.uk
Although Berwald's symphonies are his core achievement, his chamber music is every bit as inventive and enjoyable as you might expect. Of his three string quartets, the first (1818) is an astonishingly assured and original work for a self-taught composer still in his early 20s. Haydn and early Beethoven are in evidence, but there's a harmonic tang that suggests Berwald knew his traditional sources. At 32 minutes, its on a larger scale that his later quartets (both 1849). While the second is again in four movements, the third takes Berwald's formal ingenuity to new limits. Its chinese-box format encloses the "Scherzo" within the slow movement, itself contained within the opening movement. Of course, this doesn't make listening any less enjoyable, especially when the performances are as sympathetic and attuned to Berwald's idiom as are the Yggdrasil's. In terms of sound, this disc is a model of quartet recording--well focused in a natural acoustic. Whether or not you've already acquired the symphonies, the quartets are equally compulsive listening. --
Richard Whitehouse
