Alban Berg's String Quartet can be considered to be one of the founding works of the Second Viennese School. Already composed in 1910 and first published in 1920, it was the last composition the 25-year-old wrote under the tutelage of Arnold Schoenberg, who admired 'the fullness and unconstraint of his musical language, the strength and sureness of its presentation, its careful working and signifi…

Par POHJOLA SEPPO. According to Jouni Kaipainen, the fourth string quartet (2006) is one of key works of Seppo Pohjola (b. 1965) and holds a place as a landmark in Finnish quartet literature. Of the composer's five string quartets, it is the longest and has the widest thematic arcs of his quartets. Seppo Pohjola has gone through a variety of styles in his musical career. He began as a strict Moder…

Par SUK JOSEF. First scholarly-critical edition The single-movement String Quartet #2 by Josef Suk (1874-1935) was written at the height of his compositional powers. Completed in Krecovice in May 1911, this demanding work, with its complex harmonies and motivic structure, seemed avant-garde for its day: the Berlin premiere of November 1912 was accompanied by protests from the audience. Now Zdene…