Royal String Quartet - Gorecki: String Quartets Nos.1-3 (2011)

Henryk Górecki s intriguing String Quartets, all commissions from the Kronos Quartet, signified a new creative phase in his music. The stark contrasts that had been at the heart of Górecki s compositional thinking in the 1950s and 1960s reemerged in his chamber music of the mid 1980s and are prevalent in these works. Fans of Górecki will be familiar with the compositional devices employed such as open fifths, sustained rocking motifs, and the juxtaposition of dissonance and consonance. In these distinctive quartets both Beethoven and Szymanowski s well-documented influences on the composer are apparent as well as his fascination with the folk cultures of Southern Poland, with the frequent incorporation of folk derived themes. The Royal String Quartet, renowned for the championing of music from their homeland, display an astonishing range of color, finesse and attack in these intelligent interpretations.