Alexander Calder

"Eclectic Currents" explores the endless possibility of the string quartet at the beginning of the twenty-first century. During the past decades, the Calder Quartet has commissioned works by many of the most imaginative young composers writing today. From the acoustic sonorities, dramatic rhythms, and unique timbres of Norman, Akiho, and Hearne, to the creaking amplifications of Davis, the glitchy electronic dirges of Wohl, and the primitive electronics of Perich, this album offers a snapshot of this body of work. The time-honored combination of instruments sounds entirely new in the hands of the many composers involved in this project.

World premiere recording of Eotvos's new piece, The Sirens Cycle, along with Korrespondenz, a mini opera for string quartet

Joe, a young man down on his luck, discovers he has the power to create dreams, and sets up a business selling them to others. The 'dreams' he gives to his clients are the creations of Max Ernst, Fernand Léger, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder and Richter himself, and the result is by turns playful, hypnotic, satirical, charming and nightmarish.

The Calder Quartet invites you on a journey from early to late Beethoven, passing through an exciting contemporary piece by Swedish composer Anders Hillborg along the way. Beethoven’s Op. 131 string quartet, that concludes this album, is already a great adventure in its own right, with its seven movements full of fugal writing, harmonic explorations, variations and passages filled with operatic drama. Hearing this late masterpiece together with the much more classical, but equally lively, Op. 18 no. 3 quartet opens our ears to the exceptional richness of Beethoven’s musical universe. Hillborg’s Kongsgaard Variations reveals unexpected sonic relationships to Beethoven’s variation technique, underlining the modernity of the older composer. This all leads to a program that is lively, layered and ravishingly beautiful.

Grammy® Award-winner Gloria Cheng brings an exquisite array of touch to this programme which couples the first mature works of Olivier Messiaen with the darkly radiant music of Kaija Saariaho. The Calder Quartet joins Ms. Cheng for Saariaho's 2003 trio 'Je sens un deuxième coeur' and Messiaen's 'Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes'. Saariaho attended this first recording of her ‘Ballade’ and ‘Prelude’.