The String Quartet
sun 23 jun 2024 12:00 hrs
Unlike Pierre Boulez, Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923-2006) showed little interest in serial techniques. Before fleeing Hungary in 1956, he composed his First String Quartet ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’ (1954), which in many respects continues the tradition of Bartók’s music.
Almost simultaneously with Ligeti, György Kurtág also composed his First String Quartet (opus 1, 1959), which consists of six short movements. He later considered this work as the ‘exposition of his entire life’s work’. Particularly notable are Aus der Ferne III and V, paying homage and in memoriam to publisher Alfred Schlee. In 1967, Alois Hába’s Sixteenth String Quartet was created, written in a system where the major second is divided into five tones instead of four, as in the quarter-tone system. The harmonies initially take some getting used to but are fascinating.
