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Apotheosis, Vol. 1 on CD

The Alexander String Quartet turns it's attention to Mozart's last years, beginning with this recording of the final four quartets. Eric Bromberger's liner notes are prefaced by comments from ASQ violist Paul Yarbrough: "Taken as a whole, Mozart's works for string quartet, piano quartet, viola quintet, and clarinet quintet are a monumental accomplishment as they codified the evolution of classical chamber music. He had taken Haydn's brilliant efforts with the string quartet and elevated and broadened the genre, while adhering to Haydn's formal and conversational precedent. But however much Mozart's late chamber works conform, they are never "conformist." They still have the capacity to be stunningly original, and even, especially for the listeners of the time, shocking."