New Music String Quartet

Mozart’s string quintets represent "some of his most sophisticated musical thinking … wonderful music, exhilarating to hear” (from the liner notes by Eric Bromberger). With this three album set, the Alexander String Quartet and Paul Yarbrough complete their Mozart compendium.

The latest album by Atom String Quartet - "Universum", is a natural consequence of the band's activities, and at the same time a completely new approach to composing. Each musician mastered great form and composed a full-scale, multi-part string quartet. These works are autonomous entities and tell different stories, precisely showing the individual character of each composer. "Atomizations" by Dawid Lubowicz talk about the vastness of the universe, are a reflection on the infinity of events, a story about a road that always surprises and never ends. "Varsovia" - Mateusz Smoczyński is a musical record of the heroism of Warsaw and the pain of its inhabitants, interwoven with images of the bustling metropolis of the times. present; "Bolero" by Michał Zaborski tells about dance, passion and love, while "Atlas of Butterflies" by Krzysztof Lenczowski is a musical illustration of a children's book with drawings and descriptions of butterflies. Stylistically and formally, the songs are close to classical music, i.e. to the natural environment of a string quartet, but they do not lack elements characteristic of Atom String Quartet, such as improvisation or new performance techniques.

The Emerson String Quartet makes its PENTATONE debut with a recording of Schumann’s three string quartets. Penned in the summer of 1842 during an exceptional peak of creativity, these quartets formed the beginning of a six-month surge during which most of Schumann’s best chamber music saw the light. Inspired by the example of Beethoven, Schumann’s quartets display a mastery of traditional forms, combined with typically Schumannian fantasy and lyricism, particularly in the inner movements. As such, they underline a new level of maturity in Schumann’s artistic development, surpassing the fantastical aesthetic of previous years.