This recording of Robert Simpson's String Quartets No 2 and No 5 was made in October 1989, with Antony Howell as the Recording Engineer and Arthur Johnson as the Recording Producer.
Compositional Technique
Robert Simpson's quartets, particularly the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth, are not imitations of Beethoven's works but rather extended essays in variation, with each quartet being a variation on a whole work.
Compositional Technique
A significant aspect of Robert Simpson's creative thinking, from his First Symphony onwards, is the domination of a single pulse over which different tempi are introduced, an idea first seen in late Sibelius.
Composer Biography
Robert Simpson (1921-1997), the composer of these string quartets, had his first three quartets, dating from 1951 to 1954, form a natural sequence in musical expression and tonality.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Robert Simpson's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Quartets emerged from a deep study of Beethoven's three Rasumovsky Quartets, Opus 59, which he explored through music rather than words.
Performer Biography
The Delmé String Quartet, featuring Galina Solodchin and John Trusler on violin, John Underwood on viola, and Jonathan Williams on cello, performed these string quartets.
