Two major chamber works by influential modern composer. String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, and String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10. Reproduced from authoritative editions. New English translations of Stefan George poems in String Quartet No. 2.

Acclaimed as the most important quartets since Beethoven, the six string quartets of Bela Bartok offer a summation of the composer's compositional style and development, and they constitute one of the great monuments of twentieth-century music. This outstanding new volume unites the first two of Bartok's chamber masterpieces. The stirring first quartet, written in 1908, captures the composer's great stylistic rebirth, as the intense Romanticism of the opening movement gives way to a propulsive finale reflecting the composer's growing interest in Hungarian folk music. The second quartet, written during World War I, finds Bartok's creativity unimpeded by wartime privations. The three-movement work echoes the meditative qualities of the first quartet in its outer movements, but its lively central movement suggests the traditional music of North Africa. A combination of boldly disparate influences, it remains a work of astonishing force and originality."

Expertly arranged String Quartets by Franz Joseph Haydn from the Kalmus Edition series. This is from the Classical era. Op. 3, Nos. 3, 5; Op. 20, Nos. 4, 5, 6; Op. 33, Nos. 2, 3, 6; Op. 64, Nos. 5, 6; Op. 76, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Spotlighting the four women of the Lafayette Quartet, a leading Canadian ensemble, Rounds offers both a comprehensive history of the beloved instrumental form and an inside view of the complex world of professional quartet players, revealing the exultation and heatache that are the performing artists' daily fare. A treat for every music lover, whether player, listener or composer.

A thick and informative guide to the world of classical music and its stunning recordings, complete with images from CD cases, concert halls, and of the musicians themselves.

Expertly arranged String Quartets by Felix Mendelssohn from the Kalmus Edition series. This is from the Romantic era.

Pagination: xiii + 216 pp.