Released to celebrate the American master Elliott Carter’s centenary, this is the first of two discs of the complete String Quartets. Carter himself has written: ‘I probably decided to write what was to be the 1st Quartet when I read about a composition prize in Liège, Belgium, because there were many ideas swarming around in my imagination about expression, rhythm, & harmony, mostly derived from my Cello Sonata ... Then my 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Quartets developed my imaginings in different ways.