For his Third String Quartet, Britten adopted the 'Lyric Suite' model, famously embodied by Alban Berg, instead of the traditional four-movement sonata form favored by Haydn and Mozart.
Performer Biography
The Emperor Quartet, formed in 1992, won First Prize, Mozart Prize, and Contemporary Music Prize at the prestigious Evian/Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 1995.
Performer Biography
The Emperor Quartet has contributed to film soundtracks, including "There Will Be Blood" (2008) and "Norwegian Wood" (2010), both featuring scores by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.
Composition History
Britten's Third String Quartet was written between October and December 1975, fulfilling a long-standing promise to critic Hans Keller, who greatly admired Britten's earlier quartets.
Composition History
Benjamin Britten's String Quartet No. 1 was written quickly in July 1941, commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, and premiered in Los Angeles on September 21st.
Composer Biography
In 1941, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears decided to return to England from America to work on the opera Peter Grimes, despite wartime dangers and their pacifist convictions.
Composer's Artistic Vision
As a pacifist, Benjamin Britten consistently treated the march as something to be mocked and shuddered at, as seen in his grotesquely parodistic Alla Marcia.
