T.D.

Of course there's some overlap with the Hindemith thread: The original Amar Quartet was assembled out of necessity in 1921 at the first Donaueschingen chamber music performances in order to play the premiere of Hindemith's String Quartet, Op. 16. The sensational success of this premiere encouraged the musicians to continue performing together as a quartet. This was a stroke of luck for the contemporary art of the quartet, for the musicians intensively devoted themselves to the cultivation of modern chamber music, including Bartók's Opp. 7 and 17 and Schönberg's Opp. 7 and 10. The ensemble was named after its first violinist Licco Amar; the second violinist was Walter Caspar, Paul Hindemith played the viola, with the composer's brother Rudolf Hindemith or Maurits Frank on the cello part.

Thanks for posting. I've bought quite a few Timeless releases from cdjapan over the past few years, particularly their 1800 yen 3-CD packages featuring individual artists. This seems like an especially big list.

+1. Excellent article, and including sound samples / album links is a great idea. Not sure I'd call The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe a 'psychedelic' band (their Strata-East album is a personal favorite), but won't get hung up about one isolated word.🙂

That's a pretty good assessment. Counterpoint is a reason I like Hindemith. A regular on a classical forum I visit is a big Hindemith enthusiast and raves about his opera Cardillac. I recall not digging the Mathis der Maler (his famous opera) excerpts I heard, so never pursued Cardillac.

Whoa! Jim, there's a Juilliard set on Wergo (?!) I didn't even know about that one...seems to be available for not much more than the Naxos/Amar. Here are a couple of review links fwiw: https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2017/Apr/Hindemith_quartets_8503290.htm# HINDEMITH Complete String Quartets - WERGO WER69602 [SG] Classical Music Reviews: August 2017 - MusicWeb-International

I like these quartets (and Hindemith, despite his "dry" reputation). Have owned the Danish Q set on cpo for a long time and never felt a need to consider alternatives. As far as I can recall it was viewed favorably on classical forums, but I'm a little out of touch and don't know if other sets have been released recently.

Recently saw this on DG "coming soon" page, preordered and arrived today. It's good.

Presto Music's website (UK dealer I mostly know for classical) says 2 CDs. I can't find anything on packaging specifics...IMO could be digipack or gatefold (the latter with or without internal slipcases). I'm not at home so can't check packaging of BGOs I own, but only single CD releases come to mind.

I really like the Villa-Lobos string quartets (Cuarteto Latinoamericano) on Dorian. I own all but one of the component CDs. That is an attractive offer.

Credits at: John Surman – John Surman | Releases | Discogs John Surman – How Many Clouds Can You See? | Releases | Discogs John Surman / John Warren – Tales Of The Algonquin | Releases | Discogs

DG said BGO on their "Coming Soon" page. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/219698/John-Surman:John-Surman-How-Many-Clouds-Can-You-See-Tales-Of-The-Algonquin