String Quartet No 1 in D major Op 25
String Quartet No 2 in C major Op 36
String Quartet No 3 Op 94

‘Arguably the greatest string quartet before the public today’ (The Sunday Times), the Takács Quartet have recorded much of the great Classical andRomantic quartetrepertoire during theirfruitful career. Now they turn to three masterpieces of the twentieth century.

The three quartets span the composer’s life, the ?rst written in America and the second written at the height of Britten’s fame afterthe premiere of Peter Grimes. It was written to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Purcell’s death a composer who was a lifetime inspiration to Britten and the last movement is cast in the form of a huge Chacony. The third Quartet was written at the end of Britten’s life and refers speci?cally to his last opera, Death in Venice. Peter Pears described this haunting work as being ‘of a profound beauty more touching than anything else,radiant, wise, new, mysterious overwhelming’.