Best Post-1950 String Quartet Cycle

[kyjo]

You should check out Vasks' SQs, Kyle.

Indeed I should!

Some other recent quartets that have impressed me are those by Carl Vine and Leon Kirchner.

[Mirror Image]

Indeed I should!

Some other recent quartets that have impressed me are those by Carl Vine and Leon Kirchner.

Ah yes, I forgot about Vine and since we're talking about Aussies, Sculthorpe's are quite good, too.

[amw]

I think Rădulescu gets my vote overall at this point.... though I don't know all of his quartets (and nor does anyone else). Ole-Henrik Moe, Ferneyhough, Xenakis, Kurtág, Lachenmann are second place contenders, and in third place I'd put Dillon, Carter, Sciarrino, Shostakovich or Johnston. But imo Rădulescu expanded the possibilities of the string quartet medium in ways that few others really tried to (Moe and Lachenmann come closest) and with results I find musically very compelling.

[André]

I don't know many post-1950 SQs besides those of Shostakovich, but the three of Aaron Jay Kernis have greatly impressed me. They're the perfect blend of individuality and accessibility.

+ 1

[amw]

I didn't realise there was a third Kernis quartet—I'm only familiar with the two the Jasper Quartet has recorded. Very much "guilty pleasure" music but I also like eating ice cream straight from the container >.>

[kyjo]

I didn't realise there was a third Kernis quartet—I'm only familiar with the two the Jasper Quartet has recorded.

It hasn't been commercially recorded yet - I heard the Jasper Quartet perform it live.

[blablawsky]

I think Rădulescu gets my vote overall at this point.... though I don't know all of his quartets (and nor does anyone else). Ole-Henrik Moe, Ferneyhough, Xenakis, Kurtág, Lachenmann are second place contenders, and in third place I'd put Dillon, Carter, Sciarrino, Shostakovich or Johnston. But imo Rădulescu expanded the possibilities of the string quartet medium in ways that few others really tried to (Moe and Lachenmann come closest) and with results I find musically very compelling.

Which Radulescu SQ is your favorite?

[amw]

No.4, which also has a long and pretentious subtitle (as do all of his compositions). Nos.5 and 3 close behind.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Ole-Henrik Moe,

I looked up this guy out of curiosity. He is so obscure that his Wikipedia page is in Norwegian only, and he frequently gets confused in search results with Ole Henrik Moe, a pianist who lacks the other Moe's hyphen. He sounds like the equivalent of one of those indie bands that are cool as long as nobody actually knows about them.

[amw]

His music has been featured at the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, etc, and three works for string quartet recorded by the Ardittis on Aurora. He also improvises/performs noise music as well as classical stuff. It's true that he's not well known outside of Norway, but that's a mistake imo. (Also like.... lots of other composers mentioned in this thread are totally obscure outside their country of origin: doubt many people outside Wales are familiar with Daniel Jones for instance.)

[André]

Sallinen's 5 quartets take just over 70 minutes and fit on a sigle disc. Let not that be counted a weakness, though, they are all superb.

[springrite]

Sallinen's 5 quartets take just over 70 minutes and fit on a sigle disc. Let not that be counted a weakness, though, they are all superb.

That's a superb set indeed!

[Ken B]

Sallinen's 5 quartets take just over 70 minutes and fit on a sigle disc. Let not that be counted a weakness, though, they are all superb.

Damn you! I am trying to buy nothing!



I have his symphonies and some chamber works and a bit of choral too. Now I am sorely tempted...

[schnittkease]

Dusapin, perhaps?

[André]

I have one, coupled with Dutilleux, and actually prefer it to his older colleague's. He wrote others since.

[schnittkease]

I have one, coupled with Dutilleux, and actually prefer it to his older colleague's. He wrote others since.

Yes, and a recent Gramophone win heralds his cycle's importance as among the best of the past 50 years.

[petrarch]

I knew Carter would get the general vote, but I just had to put in one for Rihm... As other members, I too was surprised to not see Ferneyhough, Scelsi, Dusapin and Harvey on the list.

[Sergeant Rock]

Mieczyslaw Weinberg (11 of his 17 are post-1950)

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Mieczyslaw Weinberg (11 of his 17 are post-1950)

Sarge

Strong candidate, indeed.

[Brian]

I think Rădulescu gets my vote overall at this point....

Just got suckered into listening to Radulescu 5 because Naxos Music Library said it was only 5:20 in length and I was like "Cool! That fits right in with amw's comment about how he breaks the mold of the traditional quartet!" And then like 12 minutes later I was like "hey wait a minute"