String Quartet No 1
1 Maestoso - Allegro moderato
2 Lento
3 Rondo:
Allegro:
String Quartet No 2
4 Allegro marcato - Allegro giusto
5 Intermezzo:
Alla "Blues"
6 Presto:
Quartetto Lirico (String Quartet No 3)
7 Andante amabile
8 Allegretto scherzando e leggiero
9 Lento espressivo

‘Mátyás Seiber’s three string quartets span his career, from the astonishingly assured student essay of the first quartet, composed at the age of just eighteen, to the mature synthesis of his third and final Quartetto Lirico. Seiber’s work was nourished by several of the twentieth century’s most significant stylistic trends, from jazz and serialism to the folk music of his native Hungary. He was also, like many of the mid-century’s most important artists, an émigré and an influential teacher; Hugh Wood’s booklet essay pays tribute to his lasting influence on a generation of British composers. Recent praise for the Edinburgh Quartet: ‘a bright sound with a ring of steel around it that is ideal for modern music’ Daily Telegraph ‘scorchingly focused performances’ The Herald (on the Delphian CD The Cold Dancer)