Kosmos Kammermusik – Quatuor Ébène

There are composers who have composed dozens of string quartets. And others who rarely used this form: These included Robert Schumann and György Ligeti. It is hardly a coincidence that both refer to more prolific quartet composers in their works. Schumann's Op. 41 No. 1 is dedicated to Mendelssohn and partly sounds like him; Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1 "Métamorphoses nocturnes", on the other hand, is unmistakably inspired by Bartók.

The third composer in the program, the Briton Henry Purcell, wrote even fewer string quartets than Schumann and Ligeti, namely none at all - because the form did not exist in the 17th century. But some of Purcell's fantasies for four viols lend themselves easily to the more modern instrumentation. And yet: The instruments by Stradivari, Guarneri and Co., on which the musicians* of the Quatuor Ébène play, are almost as old as Purcell's works.

Henry Purcell, Fantasien a 4 (selection)
György Ligeti, String quartet Nr. 1 «Métamorphoses nocturnes»
Robert Schumann, String quartet A minor op. 41 Nr. 1