Elliott Carter String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 - The Composers Quartet

Variations

Elliott Carter String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

The Composers Quartet

Coordinator: Teresa Sterne 

Art Direction: Robert L. Heimall

Cover Art: Fred Otnes

Cover Design: Paula Bisacca

Cover Concept: Hess and/or Antupit

Photograph of The Composers Quartet by Arnold Black

Engineering & Tape Editing: Marc J. Aubort, Jonana Nickrenz (Elite Recordings, Inc.)

Mastering: Robert C. Ludwig (Sterling Sound, Inc.)

Recorded April 21 - 23, 1970, under the supervision of the composer

Nonesuch H-71249 (Stereo)

The Composers Quartet

Anahid Ajemian - Violin

Jean Dupouy - Viola

Michael Rudiakov - Cello

Quartet No. 1 received First Prize in the Concours international de qua tour, Liege, Belgium, 1953

Quartet No. 2 recieved the Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1960; New York Music Critics Circle Award, 1960; International Rostrum of Composers Award (UNESCO), Paris, 1961

From the back cover: The Composers Quartet was established in 1965 and is currently in residence at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, in recognition of the need for an outstanding new ensemble in the contemporary field, the Quartet has devoted itself largely to the recent string-quartet literature. Concerts and symposia on university campuses as well as guest appearances in chamber-music series have won the Quartet a devoted public and high critical acclaim. In 1970, the Composers Quartet and the New England Conservatory established the Composers Quartet Composition Prize. The overwhelming response of well over one hundred scores augurs well for the future of string-quartet composition.

The Composers Quartet can be heard on the Columbia, CRI and Nonesuch labels.

String Quartet No. 1 (1951)

1. Fantasia: Maestosos – Allegro scorrevole

2. Allegro scorrevole – Adagio

3. Variations

String Quartet No. 2 (1959)

Introduction – Allegro fantastico – Cadenza for Viola – Presto scherzando – Candenza for Cello – Andante expressivo – Cadenza for First Violin – Allegro – Conclusion