Nicholas Kenyon 

Ligeti; Quartet No 2: Pintscher; Study IV: Cage; String Quartet in Four Parts: Xenakis; Tetras – review

Xenakis's wholly original Tetras is brilliantly played here by the JACK Quartet, at their Wigmore debut, writes Nicholas Kenyon
  
  


One of the biggest supporters in this country of Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) was his compatriot, the harpsichordist Lina Lalandi, who has just died. Xenakis's stunning Tetras shows what a major figure he was. It grabs you by the scruff of the neck and plunges you into fierce glissandi, moaning textures, and then reinvents the major scale. This wholly original work was brilliantly played by the JACK Quartet at their Wigmore debut concert last July, and is here linked to Ligeti's quirky Quartet No 2, Matthias Pintscher's recent Study IV and, oddly touching, John Cage's String Quartet in Four Parts – cool, distanced, finishing with a Bach-like quodlibet. Superbly committed playing throughout.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*