performed by the Delmé Quartet (cover image by Larm Rmah) As the first and really core composer behind the new Editor’s Choice series, we’ll have a few articles on Simpson’s music, doing a bit of catching up with his earlier stuff since … Continue reading Simpson String Quartet no. 2
performed by the Artemis Quartet (an excerpt of their performance there), or below by the Cleveland Quartet (cover image by Mona Eendra) It’s been a while since we’ve seen any of the opus 18 string quartets. We’ve only gotten through half … Continue reading Beethoven String Quartet no. 4 in Cm, op. 18 no. 4
performed by the Tempera Quartet (cover image by Kristopher Kinsinger) I feel that quartets are in a way the genre in which I am most at home. I use the instruments rather mildly, without any great technical finesse. Nordgren, from … Continue reading Pehr Henrik Nordgren: String Quartet no. 10
performed by the Cikada String Quartet, or as below You were not allowed to have pulse, or tonally oriented harmonies, or melodies. I don’t want to write music through negations. Everything is permissible as long as it’s done in good taste. … Continue reading Kaija Saariaho: Nymphéa
performed by the Medici String Quartet (Again, we have a piece with no YouTube video. I’ll be perfectly honest: this piece will not be many people’s cup of tea, but if you’re a lover of Webern or Schoenberg or anything … Continue reading Usko Meriläinen: String Quartet no. 1
performed by the Voces Intimae Quartet, or below by the Copenhagen String Quartet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ywncteIf7M (cover image by Hans Eiskonen) It turned out as something wonderful. The kind of thing that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of … Continue reading Sibelius String Quartet in Dm, op. 56 ‘Voces Intimae’
performed by the Minguet Quartett second and third/fourth movements (cover image by Steven Wang) Robert Fuchs was born on February 15, 1847 in Frauental an der Laßnitz, the youngest of 13 children. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Felix Otto … Continue reading Robert Fuchs: String Quartet no. 1 in E, op. 58
performed by the Pacifica Quartet (no video today, but go check out the album for some audio clips) (cover image by Steven Wang) Back to Blackwood. If you know Blackwood’s name from somewhere (and you’re not a contract bridge player; … Continue reading Blackwood String Quartet no. 3
performed by the Smith Quartet, or below by the Kronos Quartet (cover image by Oskar Krawczyk) Philip Glass’s third string quartet is in many ways (at least spiritually) related to the second. That work was to be incidental music for … Continue reading Glass String Quartet no. 3, ‘Mishima’
performed by the Pacifica Quartet, or below by the Juilliard Quartet Like the desert horizons I saw daily while it was being written, the First Quartet presents a continuous unfolding and changing of expressive characters—one woven into the other or … Continue reading Elliott Carter: String Quartet no. 1
performed by the Fine Arts Quartet, or below by the Mondriaan String Quartet second, third and fourth movements (cover image by Larm Rmah) George Johann Carl Antheil was born on July 8, 1900 into a family of German immigrants in … Continue reading George Antheil: String Quartet no. 3
performed by the Quatuor Diotima (cover image by Frantzou Fleurine) Everyone knows the middle movement, but what about what comes before and after it? This quartet, while an early work, is powerful and more than worthy of a listen from … Continue reading Barber String Quartet in Bm, op. 11
performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band (cover image by Francisco Aceldo) Frederick Shepherd Converse was born on January 5, 1871 in Newton, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard with John Knowles Paine, and his op. 1 violin sonata from 1893 got ‘highest honors’ as … Continue reading Frederick Converse: String Quartet no. 2 in Am, op. 18
‘From my life’, performed by the Pavel Haas Quartet, or below by the Stamitz Quartet (cover image by Roman Kraft) Bedřich Smetana was born on 2 March, 1824 in Litomyšl, near the border between Bohemia and Moravia, at the time both provinces … Continue reading Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet no. 1 in E minor, ‘Z mého života’
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Pavel Haas Quartet (cover image by Tamara Menzi) Indeed, the material proved to be fresh and original… I settled on writing a string quartet, thinking that the combination of new, … Continue reading Prokofiev String Quartet no. 2 in F, op. 92
performed by the Quatuor Danel in a world premiere recording, or below by the Gothenburg Quartet entire playlist here (cover image by Ricardo Gomez Angel) Mieczysław Weinberg was born on 8 December, 1919 in Warsaw to a Jewish family. So … Continue reading Mieczysław Weinberg: String Quartet no. 1, op. 2
performed by the Panocha Quartet (Oops! We have a rare case with no YouTube video for the work. If you’re intent on hearing it, you can purchase the first three movements individually from iTunes, part of the Panocha quartet set. Since … Continue reading Martinů String Quartet no. 1, H. 117, ‘French Quartet’
performed by the Amar Quartet, or below by the Danish String Quartet (cover image by Annie Sprat) Paul Hindemith’s first string quartet wasn’t recognized as such until recently. In Stephen Luttman’s book Paul Hindemith: a Guide to Research, he makes a … Continue reading Hindemith String Quartet no. 1 in C, op. 2
performed by the Vertavo Quartet, or below by the Copenhagen Quartet I have recently finished a string quartet which I still haven’t heard. It is in G minor and is not intended to bring trivialities to market. It strives towards … Continue reading Grieg String Quartet no. 1 in Gm, op. 27
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Borodin Quartet Although this is only the third of the composer’s fifteen completed string quartets, it’s not an early work by any means. In fact, it comes after the composer’s ninth symphony, op. 70, … Continue reading Shostakovich String Quartet No. 3 in F major, op. 73
performed by the Emerson Quartet, or below by the Takács Quartet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXQ2-uD_4LU Bartók’s third string quartet was written in Budapest in 1927, putting it just after the first piano concerto in his output. Remember, despite the low numbers, these are … Continue reading Bartók String Quartet no. 3
Fugue for Thought 