Best Post-1950 String Quartet Cycle

[Karl Henning]

I found the 3rd here:



and 1 and 2 are on Naxos. 

And yes, I had forgotten about this recording of the 4th - which I even have:

Winning!

[North Star]

It should also be noted that there are no oddly shaped pearls in baroque music.

[ahinton]

Has anyone yet mentioned Henze's five (of which only the first is pre-1950)? Or Krzysztof Meyer (13 to date)? Or Dusapin (7)?

If we consider just UK composers, what about David Matthews, who has to date contributed 13 quartets to the repertoire or his brother Colin who has five? Or Goehr (4), Maxwell Davies (11), Harvey (4), McCabe (7), Ferneyhough (7 pus other works for quartet), Dillon (7)...

[André]

In no particular order: Meyer, Jones, Schafer, Carter, Glass.

Straddling the 1950 divide: Tippett, Milhaud, Rosenberg.

[Keep Going]

Rautavaara (4), Gorecki (3) and Riley (12+) have written around 20 between them.

The Glass set by Kronos (2 - 5) is solid. He has written No. 6 and No. 7, but they remain unrecorded.

There's also Myaskovsky's large set (13) written in the years leading up to 1950.

[bhodges]

Back to discussion of post-1950 quartet cycles. Keep it on topic, folks, and civil. Thank you.

--Bruce

[bhodges]

Has anyone yet mentioned Henze's five (of which only the first is pre-1950)? Or Krzysztof Meyer (13 to date)? Or Dusapin (7)?

If we consider just UK composers, what about David Matthews, who has to date contributed 13 quartets to the repertoire or his brother Colin who has five? Or Goehr (4), Maxwell Davies (11), Harvey (4), McCabe (7), Ferneyhough (7 pus other works for quartet), Dillon (7)...

If nothing else, this thread is an excellent reminder of how many post-1950 quartets I haven't heard. Need to fix. (I love Jonathan Harvey, but don't think I've ever heard any of his.) And just saw sanantonio's post above -- another composer new to me.

Want to add Toshio Hosokawa to the list, even though I might not pick it as "#1" (I chose Carter). This superb recording by Quatuor Diotima has all of his quartets to date.

[asin]B00AGMT76U[/asin]

--Bruce

[Ken B]

Well I listened to Rosenberg 12. I liked it well enough, but I can't say it overwhelmed me either. When were Miaskovsky's last quartets written? They are splendid.

[Spineur]

Has anyone yet mentioned Henze's five (of which only the first is pre-1950)? Or Krzysztof Meyer (13 to date)? Or Dusapin (7)?

I have a couple of Dusapin quartets.  He is good at creating motion and leaves also an appealing sense of mystery.  But as I mentionned in the "listen-to" thread, this piece of Wolfgang Rihm 'Et Lux' for Vocal ensemble and string quartet, wins the show as far as I am concerned
[asin]B00TTUOALC[/asin]

[Monsieur Croche]

I think you mean the violin family, though, not viol family - this isn't about gamba quartets, as far as I know. 


I'd pick Carter, Ferneyhough, Schnittke, and Xenakis (in that order), but I'm not all that familiar with post-'50 SQ cycles.

violin
viola
violincello

Violin / Viol Family, yeah.  I was being, uh, familial.


Best regards

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

If nothing else, this thread is an excellent reminder of how many post-1950 quartets I haven't heard. Need to fix. (I love Jonathan Harvey, but don't think I've ever heard any of his.) And just saw sanantonio's post above -- another composer new to me.

Want to add Toshio Hosokawa to the list, even though I might not pick it as "#1" (I chose Carter). This superb recording by Quatuor Diotima has all of his quartets to date.

[asin]B00AGMT76U[/asin]

--Bruce

Toshio Hosokawa writes brilliantly for strings, I find. I think there are also a number of works with an additional instrument added to the usual quartet ensemble which I like very much but probably won't qualify for this thread.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

violin
viola
violincello

Violin / Viol Family, yeah.  I was being, uh, familial.


Best regards

Should it not be called the 'viola' family? 'Violino,' of course, uses a diminutive suffix meaning that it is really a 'small viola'

[Parsifal]

violin
viola
violincello

Violin / Viol Family, yeah.  I was being, uh, familial.


Best regards

The viol family is distinct from viola family. The instruments of the Viol family are generally tuned with strings separated by a 4th (like a lute or guitar), compared with the Viola family where they are separated by a 5th. There are other differences in the construction of the instruments.  As was mentioned above, the viola da gamba is a viol. In the modern orchestra, only the contrabass is a viol.

[Mahlerian]

Toshio Hosokawa writes brilliantly for strings, I find. I think there are also a number of works with an additional instrument added to the usual quartet ensemble which I like very much but probably won't qualify for this thread.

I own his Landscape I on a disc from the Lotus Quartet and have to agree that Hosokawa has a wonderful imagination for timbre.  I forget which one of the works uses shou (Landscape II maybe?) but anything with shou appeals to me, that work included.  It's a beautiful instrument.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I own his Landscape I on a disc from the Lotus Quartet and have to agree that Hosokawa has a wonderful imagination for timbre.  I forget which one of the works uses shou (Landscape II maybe?) but anything with shou appeals to me, that work included.  It's a beautiful instrument.

Landscape V, according to a recording made by the arditti quartet. That one is my favourite.

[blablawsky]

Resurrecting this thread in hopes to find more great compositions, and not derail it further.

In my order of preference:
Carter
Lachenmann
Ferneyhough

In fact Carter's quartets are some of my favorite compositions of all time. There is a huge gap between Carter and Lachenmann in my preference. Lachenmann's quartets are very interesting, but I find them too repetitive in their use of gestures, if you could call them that. Same could be said of Ferneyhough's music. Of course, I am glad that both Lachenmann and Ferneyhough's compositions exist.

[Mirror Image]

I freely admit that I'm not familiar with a lot of SQ cycles past 1950, but one cycle that I've been quite impressed with has been Vasks'. The Wergo recordings are excellent.

[The new erato]

In no particular order: Meyer, Jones, Schafer, Carter, Glass.

Straddling the 1950 divide: Tippett, Milhaud, Rosenberg.

Strongly supportive of Meyer and Rosenberg here.

[kyjo]

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.

[Mirror Image]

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.

You should check out Vasks' SQs, Kyle.