The Arditti Quartet, founded in 1974 by violinist Irvine Arditti, has had several hundred string quartets composed for them and has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 1999.
Compositional Technique
In ...?risonanze!... for Viola d'amore, Olga Neuwirth detunes the main strings and tunes the sympathetic strings a micro-interval higher, altering the instrument's characteristic resonance.
Compositional Technique
Olga Neuwirth's second string quartet, settori, literally means 'clippings/sectors' in Italian because its musical material is derived from her earlier quartet, Akroate Hadal.
Performer Biography
Garth Knox, the violist on this album, was invited by Pierre Boulez to join the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris in 1983 and later became a pioneer of the viola d'amore, creating new repertoire for it.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Olga Neuwirth, the composer, manipulates instrument tone colors through unusual tuning and preparation to create highly differentiated musical situations, rather than rejecting conventional euphony.
Compositional Technique
The string quartet Akroate Hadal by Olga Neuwirth uses strings prepared with paperclips and clamps, creating 'noise-sounds' and breaking the instrumental sound from within.
Compositional Technique
For Quasare/Pulsare, Olga Neuwirth prepares selected piano strings with materials like silicone balls and styrofoam to intentionally detune the instrument and integrate its interior into the music.
