Ruben Aharonian, Igor Naidin, Valentin Berlinsky, Andrei Abramenkov & Borodin Quartet
Tchaikovsky - String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11
Tchaikovsky - String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11
The Borodin Quartet, consisting of Valentin Berlinsky (Cello), Andrei Abramenkov (Violin), Igor Naidin (Viola) and Ruben Aharonian (Violin) perform Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11 at the Kuhmo Festival for Chamber Music 2002. The work is composed in February of 1871 and premiered the next month, performed by members of the Russian Musical Society. The work consists of four movements, of which the Andante cantabile is based on a folk tune, which the composer heard whistled by a painter at his sister's house. It is said the beauty of the second movement made tears to the eyes of writer Leo Tolstoy, who heard it during a personal tribute concert. Another theme from the second movement is used as the basis for the popular song "On the Isle of May, popularized by Connee Boswell in 1940.