DANISH STRING QUARTET
Prism V: Beethoven, Webern, Bach
Danish String Quartet
ECM 2565 (reviewed as 24/96 download). 2023.
Manfred Eicher, prod.; Markus Heiland, eng.
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
Almost five years after they released the first recording in their Prism series, the Danish String Quartet gives us Prism V. As in previous installments, the DSQ has paired a late Beethoven string quartet—here the extraordinary, final String Quartet No.16 in F major, Op.135—with a related fugue by J.S. Bach and a quartet by a later master.
What has changed is maturity. The quartet’s, their artistry was already uncompromisingly honest and fearless; now they have deepened their willingness to embrace mystery from a place of wonder. This quality is most evident in the Beethoven, which moves between joy, harsh realities, and, in its penultimate movement, sublime reverence before the holy of holies.