Elliott Carter - String Quartets Nos 1 & 5 (Naxos Audio CD)  

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 First Quartet when I read about a composition prize in Liège, Belgium, because there were many ideas swarming around in my imagination about expression, rhythm, and harmony, mostly derived from my Cello Sonata ... Then my Second, Third, and Fourth Quartets developed my imaginings in different ways until I began to realize that soon I would exhaust this direction, and so my Fifth Quartet became a farewell to the previous four and an exploration of a new vision.’

String Quartet No. 1

Pacifica Quartet


I. Maestoso 00:09:08
I. Allegro scorrevole (from bar 356) 00:03:28
II. Allegro scorrevole 00:01:19
II. Adagio (from bar 57) 00:11:58
III. Variations 00:13:28

String Quartet No. 5

Pacifica Quartet


Introduction 00:01:30
I. Giocoso 00:02:31
Interlude I 00:01:05
II. Lento espressivo 00:02:12
Interlude II 00:01:22
III. Presto scorrevole 00:01:07
Interlude III 00:01:29
IV. Allegro energico 00:01:53
Interlude IV 00:01:59
V. Adagio sereno 00:02:47
Interlude V 00:01:39
VI. Capriccioso 00:01:38


Total Playing Time: 01:00:33