Album

Anton Ferdinand Titz was an Austrian transplanted to the Russian imperial court at St. Petersburg in the 1770s; his name was spelled various ways (like Dietz), and perhaps it would have been better to adopt one of those for this revival of his music if only to forestall student swiping of the disc from anglophone library collections. Be that as it may, the music is of considerable historical interest in an abstract way; these were among the first string quartets composed in Russia. And, in that respect, Titz got the genre off to a good start. The most attractive feature of these pieces is the way Titz, although he was a violinist, produced genuine quartet textures instead of first-violin showpieces. He wrote short virtuoso passages for himself that are effective precisely because they lend variety to the texture. Even the two earlier quartets of the four on the disc, from a set published in 1781 and reflective of the melodic but not particularly tightly organized Austrian quartets of a generation before, display skillful part-writing. Aside from this the music is not terribly memorable. Even the notes concede a "random" quality to the two earlier works, and Titz's omission of a real slow movement in all but one of the works here is notable; it's the slow movement that calls for a single, sustained flight of invention. The most interesting work of the four comes from a group of Titz quartets published in 1801. The booklet notes claim that Titz's style reflected his Russian surroundings, but that's hard to hear except in this final work—which has a certain international quality with its siciliano introduction and its jaunty Polonaise finale. The Hoffmeister Quartett plays the music vigorously, and the attention to detail characteristic of Hänssler’s Profil sound engineering is in evidence. This disc will be of most interest to individuals and libraries pursuing large collections of Russian music.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
Anton Ferdinand Tietz Composer String Quartet in C-, Op.1, No.4 (No.4 of the Six Quatuors 1781) Work 19:26 Hoffmeister Quartett String Quartet
1	Adagio - Allegro	5:39			$0.99
2	Allegretto	3:15			$0.99
3	Cantabile	4:40			$0.99
4	Allegro con spirito	5:52			$0.99
Anton Ferdinand Tietz Composer String Quartet in D-, Op.1, No.5 (No.5 of the Six Quatuors 1781) Work 9:51 Hoffmeister Quartett String Quartet
5	Allegro	5:36			$0.99
6	Rondo	4:15			$0.99
Anton Ferdinand Tietz Composer String Quartet in G (No.1 of the Trois Quatuors 1802) Work 23:36 Hoffmeister Quartett String Quartet
7	Adagio - Allegro	9:14			$1.49
8	Adagio	5:36			$0.99
9	Allegretto	2:53			$0.99
10	Rondo	5:53			$0.99
Anton Ferdinand Tietz Composer String Quartet in A- (No.3 of the Trois Quatuors 1802) Work 17:50 Hoffmeister Quartett String Quartet
11	Siciliano affettuoso - Allegro di molto agitato	9:34			$1.49
12	Romance	3:43			$0.99
13	Polonaise	4:33			$0.99