Evgeny Golubev - Harp Quintet in C minor, Op. 39
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 Published On Oct 4, 2015

- Composer: Evgeny Kirillovich Golubev (16 February 1910 -- 25 December 1988)
- Performers: Vera Dulova (harp), Komitas String Quartet
- Year of recording: 1958

Quintet for Harp & String Quartet in C minor, Op. 39, written in 1953.

00:00 - I. Andante con moto
06:09 - II. Scherzo (Allegro festevole)
11:06 - III. Andante
15:03 - IV. Allegro vivace

This Harp quintet is one of the few pieces by Golubev that receives some performances these days, and this is one of the few recordings of his works that have appeared on CD (most of Golubev's works are on Melodiya LPs that are no longer available).

This quintet is very well written for the harp, which is not an easy thing to do because the harp can become overwhelmed by the other instruments very easily. Golubev achieves a nice instrumental balance in the composition; the harp has some solo moments and a small cadenza in the first movement, and there are moments where only the 'string quartet' is playing. In this quintet, the harp is not just an embellishment of the string quartet, with endless arpeggios up and down the strings, but is a personal voice in the composition: sometimes the melodic lead, sometimes softly 'backing' the instruments with intricate chords, sometimes exchanging phrases with the other instruments. In this light, the quintet can be viewed as some kind of mini-chamber concerto for the harp, because the strings mostly behave and sound as one 'body', contrasted by the instrument that's usually in the spotlights: the harp.

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