Performed by Arditti Quartet, 2005 recordings. Conlon Nancarrow (b. 1912) is undoubtedly one of the most original figures in American music. In the late 1940s, he turned to the instrument with which his name later became synonymous: the player piano. But Nancarrow also wrote a number of compositions for conventional instruments, which are likewise concerned with the organization of musical time and which in technical terms are among the most difficult works in modern literature. This repertoire is tailor-made for the enterprising Arditti Quartet, heard here in a propulsive reading of the 'String Quartets' Nos. 1 and 3 (1942; 1987). As a further attraction, this is the first recording of the string arrangements of the 'Studies for Player Piano' Nos. 15, 31, 33 and 34 (originally composed between 1955 and 1969) and of the 'Trilogy for Player Piano' dating from 1987. |