Presented by Leo Samama.
Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit… for string quartet from 1976 is considered by most people to be one of the highlights of French quartet music. In this extraordinary score, he extends and transforms the material step by step, but as a listener the preceding music stays with you all the time. This delivers an exciting work, of beautiful colour, like a labyrinth and compelling most of all.
Betsy Jolas finished her Third string quartet in 1973. The work was performed in Washington for the first time, which explains the English titles in parts of the score. Each of the nine parts is an exercise in a particular technique or style.
‘Eridan’, opus 57, is the one true string quartet from François Bernard Mâche (he also composed a work for string quartet and electronica). The Eridan is a mythical river like the Styx and the Lethe in the Greek underworld, but also an unknown Celtic river – possibly the Rhône. These rivers explain the presence of the reed warbler in Mâche’s music here.
Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) – String quartet ‘Ainsi la nuit’ (1976/77)
- Nocturne 1. Libre et souple, 2. Miroir d’espace. Parenthèse 1, 3. Litanies 1. Parenthèse 2, 4. Litanies 2. Paranthèse 3, 5. Constellations. Parenthèse 4, 6. Nocturne 2, 7. Temps suspendu
Performing: Orpheus String Quartet
CD: Channel Classics
Betsy Jolas (*1926) – String quartet no. 3 ‘9 Etudes’ (1973)
- Bowing, 2. Vibrato, 3. Aleatory Structures, 4. Trilles and Bowed Tremolo, 5. Harmonics, 6. Multiple Stops, 7. Aleatory Structures around a held C, 8. Pizzicati, 9. Summing up.
Uitvoerenden: Concord String Quartet
CD: NWCRI
François-Bernard Mâche (*1935) – String quartet ‘Eridan’, opus 57 (1986)
Performing: Arditti Quartet
CD: naïve
