The Escher String Quartet was championed by the Emerson String Quartet and was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2010-2012.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Zemlinsky's four numbered string quartets, composed over four decades, show his evolving musical language and his view of the string quartet as a vehicle for his most progressive musical thought.
Composer Biography
Zemlinsky, the composer, earned the support of Brahms and Mahler and was a sought-after pedagogue in Vienna, but abandoned freelance composition to support his family through conducting.
Historical Context
Zemlinsky's opera, Der Kreidekreis, was silenced by the National Socialists in 1933, leading him and his family to flee to America in 1938, where he died forgotten.
Performer Biography
Within months of its inception in 2005, the Escher Quartet was invited by Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet-in-Residence at their summer festivals.
Album & Artwork
The Escher Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by his method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.
Composer Biography
Alexander Zemlinsky, a highly respected Viennese musician, had all but disappeared from the musical radar by his death in 1942, despite his youthful prowess and recognized abilities as a conductor.
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