String Quartet, 11, Grave, Interscriptum: Minguet Q Bellheim(P)

Wolfgang Rihm's compositions for string quartet are as extensive as they are varied. So far, there are thirteen quartets, as well as ten other compositions for or with a string quartet. A selection of these works can be found on this recording featuring the Minguet Quartet and pianist Markus Bellheim. Rihm's String Quartet No. 11 is a piece of work of extreme contrasts - restrained and explosive, simple and virtuosic, fragile and forced to the point of screaming, tightly homophonic and polyphonically splintered to the edge of total dissolution. Interscriptum is an elaboration of Rihm's twelfth string quartet. To the quartet ensemble, treated as one instrument, a piano part is added, which initiates a dialogue and creates entirely new relationships within the piece. Grave is dedicated to the Alban Berg Quartet, and was written in response to the group's request for a requiem.