Quatuors A Cordes N°1 A N°4 [CD de audio] Britten Quartet and Michael Tippett

Sir Michael Tippett (1905-1998) was a leading figure in British contemporary music of the 20-th century. His 4 string quartets span his entire creative life, and show him as an extremely skilful and innovative composer. In his String Quartets, the most challenging and complicated musical form, Tippett draws inspiration from the late quartets of Beethoven, particularly in his fugal writing, and the intricate and complex textures of the 4 voices. The Britten Quartet already showed their special qualities in British 20th century music, their recording of the String Quartets of Benjamin Britten (Brilliant Classics 9168) won high praise. Sir Michael Tippett (190598) wrote a total of seven string quartets, along with two early efforts that he himself suppressed, deeming the works too immature. Like the symphonies, the Quartets Nos. 14, heard on this disc, span Tippetts development as a composer, and reveal his deep feeling and skill for contrapuntal music. Drawing particular inspiration from