Quartetto d' archi di Torino

Bruno Maderna (1920-1973) wrote his only string quartet for the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt in1955 and dedicated the work to Luciano Berio. Along with Berio he was one of the most important protagonists of the Italian avant-garde. They established their famous electronic Studio di Fonologia della RAI in Milan, and started a major concert series with Incontri Musicali, entirely dedicated to modern music. Maderna's string quartet dates from his period of strict adherence to Serialism and is characterized by an extremely diverse style of play (from vibrato to non vibrato) and intensity (from quadruple piano to triple forte). A greater contrast to the quartets of Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) is hardly conceivable. A contemporary of Haydn, he developed the string quartet in his own manner, by separating the second cello section from the continuo. Boccherini was himself a virtuoso cello player. Most of his compositions deal with his favourite instrument: one hundred and twenty-five string quintets, ninety-one string quartets, fifty-four string trios and ten cello concertos. His string quartets all possess a marked charm, grace and a fast pace and are above all very intimate: he has no obvious predecessors nor successors in the history of music. It befits Quartetto di Torino that they decided to present both Boccherini and Maderna in the same program.