Arditti Quartet

In his First Quartet (1907-1909), Bartók laid the foundations of the modern string quartet. He did not work tonally but followed his own compositional principles, confronting vigorous rhythmic energy with the lament and expressing admiration for the perfection of folk music by quoting it. Elliott Carter's (b. 1908) Fifth Quartet, performed at deSingel for the first time on 19th September 1995, consists of a series of miniatures with 'interludes' tucked in-between. The quartet transports the listener through moments of giocoso, espressivo, energico, sereno and capriccioso that are worthy of Bartók. Carter's play with order and disorder is contemporary. In the 'interludes', he places fragments of music that belong in the surrounding pieces: traces of the past and future made audible in the present. Lachenmann (b. 1935) named his Third Quartet 'GRIDO' after the initials of the first names of the four then members of the Arditti Quartet. This ensemble, with which he has worked for many years, brings his dreams of sound to life. Lachenmann has far from exhausted his ability to creatively use sound and Irvine Arditti considers it his duty to overcome technical limitations in order to fulfil the composer's wishes. This is music that is not about evolution, but about the intensity of a sound at the moment of its creation.