Gerhard: Complete String Quartets; Chaconne Arditti Quartet & Trondheim Soloists

• 1 String Quartet No. 2 (1961-1962) - I 01:32
• 2 String Quartet No. 2 (1961-1962) - II 01:33
• 3 String Quartet No. 2 (1961-1962) - III 01:38
• 4 String Quartet No. 2 (1961-1962) - IV 00:32
• 5 String Quartet No. 2 (1961-1962) - V 03:43
• 6 String Quartet No. 2 (1961-1962) - VI 02:24
• 7 String Quartet No. 2 (1961-1962) - VII 02:10
• 8 String Quartet No. 1 (1950-1955) - Allegro assai 07:17
• 9 String Quartet No. 1 (1950-1955) - Con vivacitá 02:07
• 10 String Quartet No. 1 (1950-1955) - Grave 04:46
• 11 String Quartet No. 1 (1950-1955) - Molto allegro 07:56
• 12 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - I 01:21
• 13 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - II 01:05
• 14 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - III 00:41
• 15 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - IV 01:11
• 16 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - V 01:01
• 17 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - VI 02:00
• 18 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - VII 01:49
• 19 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - VIII 02:41
• 20 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - IX 01:22
• 21 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - X 02:20
• 22 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - XI 01:26
• 23 Chaconne for Solo Violin (1959) - XII 01:44
• Total Runtime 54:19

Info for Gerhard: Complete String Quartets; Chaconne

Born in Catalonia and Arnold Schönberg’s sole Spanish student, Roberto Gerhard is, after Manuel de Falla, the boldest and most brilliant representative of the music of his country. Forced into the exile by the Spanish civil war, he became a British citizen and spend his last years in Cambridge. Although they never met, the connection with the Arditti Quartet seems to have been preordained, as illustrated by this superb recording of what can be considered the composer’s masterworks.

“The complete string quartets by the wonderful, somewhat neglected Catalan-British composer are only two, but significant achievements, highly enjoyable...The Ardittis couldn’t be more at home than in its luminous, disjointed idiom. Irvine Arditti appends a vigorous account of the 1959 solo Chaconne.” (The Sunday Times)

“This is challenging, but really worth the effort...[Gerhard's] gritty but always sensual music recalls a modernist version of Manuel de Falla; there is a toughness in these two string quartets which is matched by an electric ear for colour and nuance...The Arditti play with total command; violinist Irvine Arditti adds the massive Bach-like solo Chaconne, compelling.” (The Odserver)

Arditti Quartet:
Irvine Arditti, violin
Ashot Sarkissjan, violin
Ralf Ehlers, viola
Lucas Fels, violoncello

The Arditti Quartet
enjoys a worldwide reputation for their spirited and technically refined interpretations of contemporary and earlier 20th century music. Several hundred string quartets and other chamber works have been written for the ensemble since its foundation by first violinist Irvine Arditti in 1974. These works have left a permanent mark on 20th century repertoire and have given the Arditti Quartet a firm place in music history. World premieres of quartets by composers such as Adès, Andriessen, Aperghis, Bertrand, Birtwistle, Britten, Cage, Carter, Denisov, Dillon, Dufourt, Dusapin, Fedele, Ferneyhough, Francesconi, Gubaidulina, Guerrero, Harvey, Hosokawa, Kagel, Kurtag, Lachenmann, Ligeti, Maderna, Nancarrow, Reynolds, Rihm, Scelsi, Sciarrino, Stockhausen and Xenakis and hundreds more show the wide range of music in the Arditti Quartet’s repertoire.

The ensemble believes that close collaboration with composers is vital to the process of interpreting modern music and therefore attempts to co-operate with every composer whose works it plays.

The players’ commitment to educational work is indicated by their master classes and workshops for young performers and composers all over the world. From 1982 to 1996 the quartet’s members were resident string tutors at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music.

The Arditti Quartet’s extensive discography now features well over 170 CDs. 42 discs have so far been released as part of the ensemble’s continuing series on the French label Naïve Montaigne. The series presents numerous contemporary composer features as well as the first digital recordings of the complete Second Viennese School’s string quartet music. Stockhausen’s spectacular Helicopter Quartet is to be found here. As well recording many composers’ portraits in their presence, the quartet recorded the complete quartets of Luciano Berio shortly before his death. The latest releases include Donaueschingen 2006, Lachenmann, Moe, Nancarrow, Paredes and Spahlinger.

Over the past 35 years, the ensemble has received many prizes for its work. They have won the Deutsche Schallplatten Preis several times and the Gramophone Award for the best recording of contemporary music in 1999 (Elliott Carter) and 2002 (Harrison Birtwistle). The prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize was awarded to them in 1999 for ‘lifetime achievement’ in music.

This album contains no booklet.