Athena Quartett - Kurtág: Complete Works for String Quartet (2011)

It has become a cliché to describe the music of György Kurtág as "aphoristic," but it's hard to avoid applying the term to the composer's concise, apt, striking, intensely focused musical utterances. This 2011 CD includes the complete string quartets he had written up to that time, covering a span of half a century. It lasts 70 minutes and has 45 tracks, the shortest taking 17 seconds and the longest a practically monumental four and a half minutes. Kurtág's genius lies in making every movement feel like it lasts just exactly as long as it ought to -- each makes a complete statement and then is done -- it's an attribute many composers could benefit from learning. Five of these pieces are single movements, but most of the tracks are part of multi-movement works. The composer's tonal language can be dense, but the brevity of each movement allows the listener to focus on its expressive intent. In the 16-movement Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánsky there is plenty of variety in the character of the movements -- in their tempo, volume, harmony, texture, and counterpoint -- but the overall tone is clearly one of mourning. The single-movement "Arioso -- Hommage à Walter Levin 85" ("in the manner of Alban Berg") is played twice, on the first and last tracks, a lovely, lyrical, melancholy adagio that beautifully frames the album. Athena Quartet plays the rigorously demanding music with precision and obvious understanding of its emotional core. This is not music for casual listening, but it richly rewards focused attention. The sound of the hybrid SACD is clean, detailed, and clear.