Central to Lennox Berkeley’s chamber music output are the three string quartets that occur at regular intervals during the first half of his career. The First Quartet suggests the presence of Bartók and Stravinsky, its style recalling Berkeley’s years in Paris, while by the time of the Second Quartet, in which the balance between formal clarity and expressive depth is effortlessly achieved, these influences have been thoroughly absorbed. Written in 1970, the Third Quartet features one of the composer’s finest slow movements, a Lento which begins with ghostly harmonics before building to a climax of considerable intensity.
Berkeley, Lennox
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 6
1 I. Allegro - Moderato 07:51
2 II. Andante non troppo - Lento 05:55
3 III. Scherzo: Vivace 03:53
4 IV. Theme and 6 variations: Moderato 08:48
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15
5 I. Allegro moderato 07:12
6 II. Lento 05:30
7 III. Allegro 05:48
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 76
8 I. Allegro moderato 04:32
9 II. Allegro vivace 02:21
10 III. Lento 06:05
11 IV. Molto vivace 05:07
