Ligeti: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 / Bartók: String Quartet No. 4

For their new album, the Marmen Quartet has chosen three significant works from the 20th-century string quartet repertoire. György Ligeti's two quartets come from two different creative periods of the composer's life. The first, subtitled "Métamorphoses nocturnes," was composed before Ligeti left Hungary to emigrate to the West and represents the culmination of his "Hungarian" period. The work is considered a virtuosic exercise and reveals the influences of Béla Bartók, particularly from his Third and Fourth Quartets. Ligeti's second quartet belongs to his second creative period, which is particularly rich in significant works. Viewed by the composer as an answer to the works of his famous predecessors such as Mozart, Beethoven, Bartók, and Berg, the second quartet, with its calculated anarchy, dynamic extremes, and sublime climaxes, is not only one of Ligeti's masterpieces but also a true classic of modern music. Béla Bartók's Fourth String Quartet, which heavily influenced Ligeti, is widely considered one of his most radical. It demands a high degree of technical skill from the performers, yet reveals a deep understanding of the instruments, eliciting from them an unprecedented range of colors and idiosyncrasies. Since its founding in 2013, the London-based Marmen Quartet has established itself as one of the most impressive and committed ensembles in the field of chamber music. It has won numerous prizes, including first prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Bordeaux, and has performed throughout Europe as well as in the USA and Canada. It also participates in many major festivals.