Eybler Quartet Continues Fascinating Mission To Bring to Light Little-Known Composers of the Classical Era

Toronto's Eybler Quartet is internationally-renowned for brilliant performances as well as for an unquenchable passion for delving deep into the works of obscure composers of the Classical era, such as Vanhal, Backofen, and Eybler. The period-instrument ensemble has also attracted attention for uncovering gleaming new revelations from the "big three" Classical composers - Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven - earning raves, while ruffling a few feathers among traditionalists.

Now, the Eyblers are back with an exhilarating album featuring the music of Viennese composer Franz Asplmayr (1728-1786), the first-known recording of the entirety of his Six Quartets, Op. 2 (published as "Six Quatuors Concertantes, Op. 2" in 1769). The new album is available today from the Gallery Players label.

"One of the missions of the Eybler quartet is to find music that has been neglected and lost over the years, collecting dust in libraries, and to bring it back to life," comments violinist Julia Wedman, "Our latest discovery, 'Aspy', has a simple writing style, but he is able to really get to the heart of the music and to touch you in a deep way." In fact, violist Patrick Jordan had stumbled on a copy of the modern edition of these quartets by American musicologist Dennis C. Monk in a used bookstore in Toronto around 2006, though the score remained untouched on his shelf until Jordan came across the first edition parts in the Bibliothèque National de France, five years ago. After spending several years studying the original scores and perfecting their performances, the Eyblers have now accorded Asplmayr's Op. 2 quartets their premiere recording.

Franz Asplmayr was christened on April 2, 1728 in Linz, the son of a dancing master. He was employed at Count Morzin's court in 1759 as secretariat and violinist, where he would have met the young Joseph Haydn, the court's Hofkomponist and Musikdirektor. When the Count's orchestra was dissolved in late 1760 or early 1761, Asplmayr relocated to Vienna, where he continued to work as a composer and violinist until his death in 1786. He composed in several genres, producing at least 41 symphonies, 43 string quartets and 70 trios, but during his lifetime he was best known for his works for the theatre, including at least 25 complete ballets (of which 11 survive) and the first German-language melodrama.

"We are all familiar with Haydn and Mozart," comments Patrick Jordan, "but we can draw much more depth and richness from the music of this era - representing the history of the string quartet form - by also understanding the context of what was going on around these composers ... those like Asplmayr whom you might call the minor characters. We miss a lot by focusing only on a few people; our job is to widen that lens." In these remarkable works are found genuine experiments with form, as well as an unusually rich harmonic variety and an abundance of invention. While it would be rewriting history to propose that Franz Asplmayr shared the stature of Mozart and Haydn, his work remains remarkable for similar reasons. "Perhaps," says Jordan, "our 21st-century ears are even better prepared to accept his unique gifts."

Most recently, the Eybler Quartet released recordings of Beethoven's Op. 18 quartets, in two volumes, for Britain's CORO Connections label. Noted for their sometimes controversial and dazzlingly brisk tempos in certain movements, which Gramophone called "straight-up hilarious" and left one Times of London "feeling his age," the albums were deemed "masterfully played Beethoven" (Early Music America) and "absolutely essential listening" (The WholeNote).

The Eybler Quartet brings a unique combination of talents and skills: years of collective experience as chamber musicians, technical prowess, experience in period instrument performance and an ardent passion for the repertoire. Violinist Julia Wedman and violist Patrick G. Jordan are members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; Violinist Aisslinn Nosky is concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society. Cellist Margaret Gay, Artistic Director of the Gallery Players of Niagara, is much in demand as both a modern and period instrument player. The Eybler Quartet's previous, critically acclaimed albums include chamber music of Vanhal, Haydn, Mozart, Backofen, and of course, the quartet's namesake, Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler.

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