Vibrant Debussy from the Dante Quartet

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Your free download this week is from Debussy's only String Quartet, performed by the Dante Quartet, winners of the Chamber category at last year's BBC Music Magazine Awards. First performed in 1893 by the Ysaÿe Quartet, the work went on to influence composers including Ravel, whose String Quartet also features on the Dante's latest CD (Hyperion CDA 67759). As your free track, we've chosen the playful scherzo second movement of the Debussy, with its distinctive pizzicatos.

'While Ravel always took an interest in older forms, it is surprising that Debussy composed his string quartet with no poetic or visual allusion,' writes Christopher Dingle in BBC Music Magazine. 'The Dante Quartet give a full-blooded performance, with no false delicacy.' 

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