Jacob Druckman - String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3, Dark Wind, Reflections On The Nature Of Water (1998)

A sample of the chamber music composed by Philadelphia-born Jacob Druckman (1928-1996).  The most avant-garde piece here, from Druckman's experimental 1960s, is the String Quartet No. 2.  Placed last on this collection, the single-movement work calls for the wildest playing techniques, and contrasts nicely with the album opener, the lengthy light-and-shade of 1981's String Quartet No. 3.  In between are Reflections On The Nature Of Water (1986), a solo marimba suite performed by the composer's son Daniel Druckman, and another pensive, dramatic string piece Dark Wind (1994).

link

pw: sgtg

The Group For Contemporary Music at SGTG:

Morton Feldman: String Quartet

Morton Feldman - String Quartet (1994)

From zen for piano last Friday, to zen for strings today.  The last decade of Morton Feldman's life saw him turn to mostly chamber music, hushed dynamics, and increasingly lengthy works.  String Quartet was written in 1979, and recorded for the first time in January 1993 by The Group For Contemporary Music.  The piece might have filled an entire CD with a minute to spare, but it's still about four and a half hours shorter than Feldman's String Quartet II.  One to get lost in for sure, as glowing pulses of sound are occasionally broken up by choppier timbres, and Feldman's modular form of writing periodically reprises little figures with subtle development.

Alternate cover (Naxos reissue, 2006)

link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Piano and String Quartet
Durations/Coptic Light
Rothko Chapel
Two short pieces on Extended Voices