FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Mendelssohn: Octet, Op. 20 – The Eroica Quartet

Based in London and launched in the spring of 2011 by the co-directors Adam Binks and Jonathan Manners, Resonus Classics is the world’s first solely digital classical label, which offers high quality classical recordings exclusively through electronic media. Intending to release at least ten recordings a year, the artist-led label boasts a roster of established, acclaimed artists together with emerging talent and focuses on a wide range of repertoire and genres covering several hundred years of classical music.

In their first release for the Resonus Classics label, The Eroica Quartet and friends present the world premiere recording of the original 1825 version of Mendelssohn’s Octet, Op. 20.

Mendelssohn wrote the Octet in 1825 when he was just sixteen years old and revised the score in 1832 for publication. This recording uses the original 1825 manuscript, which is currently held in the US Library of Congress in Washington DC, and which has now been prepared for publication in a new edition.

Played on period instruments and with fingerings and bowings specific to the time, the work clearly shows the legacy and influence Mendelssohn received from his teacher, Beethoven. This edition is immensely expressive and more indulgent than the revised version penned by the older, more mature man that Mendelssohn was seven years later.