PHILIP GLASS (b.1937): String Quartets No. 1, No. 2 "Company", No. 3 "Mishima" and No. 4 "Buczak".

Description: The first quartet (1966) is a relatively angular and dissonant work, as compared to Glass' instantly recognizable mature style. It is built entirely of repeated gestures, but these tend to be bare intervals rather than the familiar arpeggiated chords, and the familiar insistent rhythmic pulsation has yet to fully develop. The Second (1983) is instantly recognizable Glass, and the third, developed from the quartet music that forms part of the Mishima soundtrack from 1985 epitomises the mid-80s small-ensemble Glass style. The familiar gestures are all here, and their lyrical intensity, as well as the dramatic insistence of the rhythmic obsessiveness, becomes especially apparent. With the fourth, an in memoriam piece for the artist Brian Buczak, Glass' more recent brand of neo-romanticism begins to be apparent. Carducci String Quartet.