Muller-Zurich: Casalquartet

“For me, tradition does not mean persistence, but transformation and growth. It might seem that a composer who still pays homage to tonality remains in such tradition-boundness out of comfort. It turns out, however, that the pursuit of tonal order constantly challenges him with new questions and decisions for which there are no recipes. ” With his commitment to tonality, Müller-Zürich seemed to justify itself at a time when the avant-garde after the Second World War vilified all sound and harmony. In fact, however, his works are neither epigonal nor even retrogressive, but have their very own tone, which, a quarter of a century after his death, must be rediscovered. His large-scale string works (quintet with 2 violas 1919 & quartet 1921) are lush, colorful sound paintings full of passion and sophistication that can compete with Reger, Mahler and young Strauss. The later string trio from 1950 shines as a virtuoso, neoclassical bravura piece. With these three first recordings on album, casalQuartett and Razvan Popovici set a magnificent sounding monument to the great Swiss.