Album Notes

The Saint John String Quartet's active concertizing schedule of over 125 concerts a year has taken them throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and China. Their 2nd CD won the ECMA "Best Classical Album of the year" award. The group can be often heard on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio waves, the Internet and on 4 award-winning compact Discs. In 1995 the Saint John String Quartet presented the first chamber music concert on the World Wide Web. The Quartet has played for the Prime Minister of Canada, Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth the Second and at prestigious festivals such as the Tochigi Music Festival in Japan, the Arcady festival in the USA and the Forbidden City Festival in Beijing China.

The 18th-century baritone violin, tuned an octave below the modern violin, fell into disuse because of its very large size--it's larger than the viola--but today this instrument is being restored to its rightful place by Jacques Dupriez. Dupriez concertizes throughout the world as a soloist and chamber musician, performing transcribed classical repertoire and new works. As a violist, Dupriez has served as a principal in symphony orchestras and won several international prizes. He teaches at Belgium's Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles.

The preeminent German Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), an innovator and conservative formalist, was regarded during his lifetime as Beethoven's successor. Brahms indelibly marked every genre he composed for: symphonies, concertos, solo piano, choral works, and art song. His most intimate writing however is found in his chamber music, wherein nearly every work is a masterpiece. His Quintet Op. 115, originally a clarinet quintet, is well disposed to the rich clear sound of the baritone violin. Written towards the end of his life, at a time when Brahms was considering retirement, the composition of this piece was inspired by the playing of virtuoso clarinetist Richard Muhlfeld.

Jacques Hetu (1938 - 2010) is one of Canada's most celebrated composers. Studying in Ottawa and Montreal, he graduated at the head of his class from the Conservatoire de musique de Quebec a Montreal. Winning several awards in 1961, including the Prix d'Europe, Hetu subsequently studied in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Henri Duttilleux. Upon his return to Canada, he taught at the university level and composed almost exclusively commissioned works. Hetu described his music as an incorporations of "neo-classical forms and neo-romantic effects in a musical language using 20th-century techniques" -- his second quartet fits nicely into this description.

During the first half of the twentieth-century, Flor Alparets (1876 - 1954) was a leading figure in Flemish music. Having studied violin, composition and conducting at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp, he later taught and then became the director of this same institution. As a composer, Alparets concentrated on symphonic works for most of his career, drawing inspiration from nationalist subjects such as Felmish landscapes and literature. Towards the end of his life he turned his attention to chamber music, using neo-classical structures and expressionistic colours. His four string quartets are the most significant works from this later period.

Recording Producer: Jean-Michel Alepaerts
Recording Engineer: Kevin W. Herring
Producer, Editing, Mixing, & Mastering: Jeremy VanSlyke
Liner Notes: Andrea Stuart
Creative Design: INk. Graphic Design
Cover Art: Toby Graser
Translation: Michele C. Brideau

Baritone Violin: Jacques Dupriez
Violin: David Adams and Genevieve Beaudry
Viola: Chris Buckley
Cello: Sonya Adams