Par BARGIELSKI ZBIGNIEW . After the first performance of my Fourth Quartet, in Salzburg in 1997, the artists of the excellent Hugo Wolf Quartett approached me with the appealing proposition that I write a new quartet. Rather problematic, however, proved to be the musicians’ delicate suggestion that I invest the work with elements of a more pungent expression and elements of folklore – ideally Polish. That suggestion meant that I did not immediately come to a decision, since folklore had not been (with the exception of a few works for accordion) the object of my interest. However, in defiance of my aesthetic outlook at that time, I decided to take up this interesting invitation and tackle what was for me a difficult problem. Ultimately, I found a way out of this rather ambiguous situation by employing a sort of dodge: I gave the new work a title. In a way, ‘The time that has passed’ substantiates the current to which I referred while writing this composition. The title and the subtitles of the work’s movements, which sound quite exotic in our day and age (there are as many as nine movements), justify the curious marriage between the somewhat nostalgic past and a present that has not yet been particularly well ‘assimilated’. I hope that these feuilles d’album will discharge their ‘toning’ function well. - Zbigniew Bargielski/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

8 Enchanting Pieces from India arranged for String Quartet. Par SHARMA PYARELAL. For the first time The Schott String Quartet Series features a collection of pieces that have been originally composed in a style unique to string quartet arrangements. Internationally-acclaimed Bollywood composer Pyarelal Sharma has provided music and songs for over 450 films. This set of string quartets, composed especially for Schott, is influenced by Indian film music, Indian folk, Arabic and light Indian classical music, thus combining the alluring sound of the East with the stability of a classic Western ensemble. Another new feature that this volume has brought to the series is a special bonus CD containing performances of these charming pieces by leading members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The Schott String Quartet Series With the first books in the series focusing on baroque, classical and romantic styles, The Schott String Quartet Series has expanded to cover music ranging from traditional pieces through to Eastern-influenced works. Aside from 'Indian Summer', which features original compositions, each book contains original arrangements of well known themes, which have often never been arranged for string quartet before. An important characteristic of these arrangements is that they allow all four instruments to demand the attention throughout the music. The pieces are suitable for amateur musicians or school students and are ideal for public performance./ Recueil / Quatuor à Cordes

Par PART ARVO. Fratres (original setting for violin and piano) was commissioned by the Salzburg Festival and premiered on August 17th, 1980 at that very place (violin: Gidon Kremer, piano: Elena Kremer). Composed in Pärt's very own 'Tintinnabuli'-style, this piece allows many different settings because it is not bound to a specific tone color. 'The highest virtue of music, for me, lies outside of its mere sound. The particular timbre of an instrument is part of the music, but it is not the most important element. If it were, I would be surrendering to the essence of the music. Music must exist of itself … two, three notes … the essence must be there, independent of the instruments.' (Arvo Pärt)/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

...called dusk II for string quartet draws its inspiration from a line in Samuel Beckett's short story Lessness: 'Figment dawn dispeller of figments and the other called dusk'.The work is a kind of double Chaconne, each part of which contains 26 chords based on specific permutations of fundamental notes and their harmonics. Each of the parts pass through alternating, harmonically contrasted planes, becoming entwined in the manner of a chimera through their rhythmic structure and dynamics. This intermittently produces a sort of 'inner voice' which runs through all four instruments. The fundamental notes and harmonics separate during the progress of the composition, becoming independent and then disintegrating. The consonant harmony resulting from the amalgamation of the two planes ultimately collapses into a rigid motor-like linearity. Detlev Müller-Siemens / Quatuor A Cordes

Dessau's String Quartet movement was written while he was also working on Brecht's opera Puntila. After Brecht's death in 1956 Dessau found himself looking for a new direction. On the one hand he was still working on music begun in collaboration with the poet, while on the other hand Dessau was trying to work towards a socially oriented musical aesthetic, which led him to compose songs for political purposes. Even this Quartet movement does not owe its inspiration purely to an artistic vision. In spite of its technical demands, the piece is intended to be comprehensible and could even be played by an amateur ensemble in its cleverly reduced form. Only discovered after the composer's death, the Movement for String Quartet is published for the first time in this edition. / Quatuor A Cordes