Search - Elliott Carter, Composers Quartet :: Elliott Carter: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

Vital 20th century chamber works.

Lord Chimp | Monkey World | 03/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Elliott Carter's first two string quartets are modernist manifestos, works that combine a penetrating comprehension of the format with beautifully articulated avant-garde concepts.



This is the only recording of these works in print, I believe. One of the few, at least. The Composers Quartet ensures that anyone introduced to Carter's quartets by this recording with not be disappointed (unless they are dull). These are excellent performances (the recordings were done under Carter's supervision) and the price is good, so apart from the obvious allure of it being perhaps the only in-print performances of these works, it has other advantages. Both compositions demand the highest level of intellectual and technical virtuosity, levels beyond most ensembles, but this group wields the material powerfully. The recording quality is pretty good, although less sharp than the Julliard Quartet's release of Carter's first four quartets (which is unfortunately OOP). However, compared to that release, the CQ's performance of quartet no.1 is substantially better and faster, with keener rhythms and delineation of texture.



Regarding these works themselves, they are some of the greatest quartets of the era. I only like a few other 20th century quartets more than Carter's first and third. The first quartet on this recording are based on Carter's ideas of metrical modulation, the rhythmic characteristics of each instrument's parts manipulated independently. It is a fantastic work, and it demands much from both performer and listener. The Pulitzer prize-winning second quartet is a formidable work in which each of the four instruments is played with different parameters. The musical gestures unfold in a series of confrontations and ordered coordination, with main movements bridged by mini-concerto-like cadenzas for viola, cello, and violin. Here too Carter employs mad rhythmic complexity, as in the first, although it is given much different context. It's brilliantly original and ineffably dramatic.



Highly recommended!"

Cf

Lord Chimp | 04/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A fine performance. For many flattering words on this recording, check out the reviews for the Julliard Quartet box set of the 4 Carter 4tets."