Fricker's Second String Quartet was written at the behest of the Amadeus Quartet and completed in April 1953.
Composer Biography
Peter Racine Fricker, the composer, initially considered a career as a concert organist, studying with Henry Wilson and Ralph Downes.
Composition History
Fricker's First String Quartet, Op. 8, was completed in 1948 and submitted for the Edwin Evans Prize, though he lost to Elizabeth Maconchy.
Recording & Production
This album features world premiere recordings of Peter Racine Fricker's String Quartet No. 1, String Quartet No. 3, and his Adagio and Scherzo.
Compositional Technique
The First String Quartet is cast in one movement but contains an unusual organization of a three-movement form, similar to Bartók's Fourth and Fifth Quartets.
Performer Biography
The Villiers Quartet, the performers on this album, won the 2015 Radcliffe Chamber Music Competition and are Quartet-in-Residence at Oxford University's Faculty of Music.
Critical Reception
Fricker's First String Quartet was singled out by a reviewer in the Musical Times as "at once the more original and the more striking" for its individuality and technical fluency.
