String Quartet, 1, 2, Etc: Arditti Q (1994)

Sony's Ligeti Edition opens with the composer's two string quartets. The first, subtitled 'Metamorphoses nocturnes,' was composed in Hungary in 1953 to 1954, although not performed until 1958 in Vienna. Structured in eight movements, Ligeti's idiom is derived from Bartok's third and fourth quartets. Although not tonal, the music is highly accessible, the composer's well known gift for both drama and humor already much in evidence. It is hard to imagine at a distance of nearly half a century how such delightful music could have ever been considered subversive to the good of the state. Nevertheless the work had no chance of performance until the composer's escape from Hungary in 1956.
The second quartet, from 1968, is more overtly modern although again Ligeti's voice is one that speaks to the listener with great immediacy. The disc is filled out, as are others in the series, with the composer's earliest effort for string quartet as well as two duos, one early and one late. The performances by the Arditti Quartet are very fine and the inclusion of the extra pieces gives this disc an edge over their earlier recording for Wergo. The entertaining liner notes are by the composer.