Complete String Quartets

Harrison Birtwistle is unquestionably one of the most frequently
performed British composers on the contemporary scene. Although
bowed strings are the raison d être of this disc, their absence is no
less conspicuous in the composer s early and mature works, for he
waited until he was nearly 60 before writing for string quartet, and the
works brought together here remain his only original works written
exclusively for strings. The recording of these works by the Arditti
Quartet, dedicatee of the String Quartet: The Tree of Strings (which was
composed for them) reflects the most recent development resulting
from Birtwistle s working with this ensemble over the past 20 years.