Arditti Quartet
Widely celebrated as one of the world’s preeminent contemporary music ensembles, the Arditti Quartet is famed for its spellbinding performances that combine authority and passion.
Yet its players are also respected for their perceptive readings of classic repertoire, including Janácek’s First String Quartet, whose dazzling colours and soaring melodies were inspired by Tolstoy and Beethoven.
Xenakis’s Ikhoor and Tetras are riotous celebrations of sound, forged from the complexities of advanced mathematics, but expressed in music of raw, wild emotion. And four pieces by US maverick Conlon Nancarrow create an appealing sense of fun with their jazzy, intricate rhythms.
Front- page mention 5 Stars in the Scotsman 28/08/2013
‘always impress with their vibrant and committed performances’
The Scotsman, Festival 2011
'His music is so utterly original, enjoyable perfectly constructed but at the same time emotional... For me it's the best of any composer living today'
György Ligeti
'[t]his quartet has been championing contemporary music since the 1970s, and it's thanks largely to them... that the new string quartet repetoire continues to flourish'
The Herald
This concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
Janácek String Quartet No 1 'Kreutzer Sonata'
Xenakis Ikhoor
Tetras
Nancarrow String Quartet No 1
String Quartet No 3
Player Piano Study No 31 (arr. Paul Usher)
Player Piano Study No 33 (arr. Paul Usher)