Quatuor à cordes no.1

This string quartet by Claude Vivier, although entitled on the manuscript Quatuor à cordes no. 1, is the composer’s only work for this medium. Although a student work, it was the first item he included in his catalogue of works, thereby showing his high regard for the piece. The musical language of the Quatuor à cordes bears little relation to the language of the later works for which Vivier has become known. Yet the piece is a significant achievement, both in its own terms and as the first step on one of the most compelling compositional journeys of the late twentieth century.

© Bob Gilmore
Note reproduced by permission of the author.