Premiered by the Arditti String Quartet at the Institute of Contemporary Arts ICA London 22nd October 1995. Programme note: SCHREIE UND MELANCHOLIE is dedicated to the Arditti Quartet and was commissioned with support from the Danish Arts Foundation. In the summer of 1993 I worked briefly on some sketches for a choral suite with texts by Georg Trakl. The project was abandoned but the moods from Trakl's poetry in which 'scream' and 'melancholy' are key words stuck in my mind when I began working on my fourth string quartet. This is music full of high siren-like wails and almost infinitely descending glissandi which permeate a landscape of warped tonalharmony. SCHREIE UND MELANCHOLIE is in four movements played attacca. The third movement is a barcarole - a memory of an autumn in Venice. (Bent Sørensen)

Composed during the summer of 1986 Joubert's third quartet is the second in order of composition of three works composed specially for performance this month as part of the celebrations connected with his sixtieth birthday.The quartet is dedicated to Howard Ferguson who was my composition teacher at the Royal Academy of Music from 1947 to 1950.

Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. Beethoven completed his String Quartet Op.135 at Wasserdorf Castle in Gneixenhof, where he sought to recuperate with his nephew Karl after the latter?s failed suicide attempt in summer 1826. It stands out among his late quartets owing to the often cheerful, almost pastoral character of its four movements. Since Beethoven?s death it has often been interpreted as an attempt to take wise and positive stock of the mishaps that had befallen him in the preceding years regarding his life situation, family and health. This interpretation is strongly suggested by the final movement, ?Der schwer gefasste Entschluss? (The Difficult Decision), with its motto ?Must it be? It must be! It must be!? The editing of this quartet proved especially complex, for the authentic sources were reworked at various stages by the composer. By judiciously assessing them, editor Jonathan Del Mar has managed to clarify many anomalies found in previous editions. - Beethoven?s final string quartet with many new readings - Introduction by Misha Donat (Eng/Ger), editor?s foreword by Jonathan Del Mar (Eng/Ger) and a scrupulous, separately published Critical Commentary (Eng) / Date parution : 2022-07-30/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

(American Quartet)-After a twelve-year interval Dvo ák once again turned his attention to the String Quartet in summer 1893. He had been musical director in New York since autumn 1892 and spent the summer in Spillville (Iowa) where agroup of Czech immigrants had settled thus making him feel at home. The beautiful natural surroundings led him to write this unconventional String Quartet in the tradition of Beethoven?s ?Pastoral? even down to the imitation ofbirdcalls. Since the first performances certain rhythmic and melodic characteristics have been traced back to the influences of the folk music of Native Americans and African Americans which led to the soon popular workbeing called the ?American Quartet?. For the first time since 1955 the Quartet is once again being published in an Urtext edition.

After a twelve-year interval Dvo ák once again turned his attention to the String Quartet in summer 1893. He had been musical director in New York since autumn 1892 and spent the summer in Spillville (Iowa) where agroup of Czech immigrants had settled thus making him feel at home. The beautiful natural surroundings led him to write this unconventional String Quartet in the tradition of Beethoven?s ?Pastoral? even down to the imitation ofbirdcalls. Since the first performances certain rhythmic and melodic characteristics have been traced back to the influences of the folk music of Native Americans and African Americans which led to the soon popular workbeing called the ?American Quartet?. For the first time since 1955 the Quartet is once again being published in an Urtext edition.