Best Post-1950 String Quartet Cycle

[schnittkease]

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"

Ha!

[amw]

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"

Oops :p I'm glad you made it at least 12 minutes in though. Rădulescu is not always physically easy to listen to, regardless of how impressed I am that he basically rebuilt string technique from the ground up or whatever.

[Mandryka]

I think Radulescu 4 is very impressive, one of those pieces which gave me the impression of being an original and courageous piece of poetry even on first listening.

It's quite a thing to do, to give pieces of music the sort of titles he likes, one day I'll read Lao-Tzu and try to see what's going on.

[shirime]

Ferneyhough seems like the obvious choice for 'someone else' but I also voted for that option for Lachenmann.

[Skogwald]

I know both of them composed some of the quartets before 1950, but I would just like to mention the excellent Bacewicz and Maconchy!

I also especially enjoy cycles by Schnittke, Nørgård and Simpson alongside single works by Xenakis, Ligeti and Lutoslawski.

[Brahmsian]

I know both of them composed some of the quartets before 1950, but I would just like to mention the excellent Bacewicz and Maconchy!

I also especially enjoy cycles by Schnittke, Nørgård and Simpson alongside single works by Xenakis, Ligeti and Lutoslawski.

I just placed an order for the Bacewicz complete string quartets after sampling the Silesian Quartet recordings.

[Todd]

I originally voted for Schnittke, but that was before I had heard Krzysztof Meyer's quartets.  Now he's the easy first choice.  He very nearly joins the Holy Tetrarchy in this repertoire. 

[Daverz]

I didn't see a mention of David Diamond.  7 of his quartets were written after 1950.  The whole cycle has been recorded by the Potomac Quartet.

[JBS]

11 of Shostakovich's 15 quartets and 18 of Holmboe's 21 numbered quartets were written after 1950.

Of the options originally listed in the poll, I would pick Carter.

[DavidW]

My vote is for Schnittke.  But I will admit that the only chamber work I've heard of Simpson is his clarinet quintet.

[GioCar]

Pascal Dusapin's 7 quartets

[The new erato]

Hilding Rosenberg wrote 13 great quartet works, all after 1950. And Meyers quartets are superb.

[Skogwald]

I'm feeling this might be the golden age of string quartets. All of these are spectacular quartet writers:
- Lachenmann
- Radulescu
- Holliger
- Nono
- Xenakis
- Simpson
- Feldman
- Norgård
- Holmboe
- Schnittke
- Iannotta
- Carter
- Bacewicz
- Maconchy
- Ferneyhough
- Etc. etc.

[foxandpeng]

I'm feeling this might be the golden age of string quartets. All of these are spectacular quartet writers:
- Lachenmann
- Radulescu
- Holliger
- Nono
- Xenakis
- Simpson
- Feldman
- Norgård
- Holmboe
- Schnittke
- Iannotta
- Carter
- Bacewicz
- Maconchy
- Ferneyhough
- Etc. etc.

Aside from those already flagged throughout the thread, perhaps a shout out for the SQs of Elena Ruehr, Valentin Silvestrov, Sunleif Rasmussen...

There are others, but these certainly deserve a mention.