Béla Bartók : String Quartets Nos. 1, 3 & 5

Jerusalem Quartet

String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, Sz. 40, BB 52 - I. Lento
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, Sz. 40, BB 52 - II. Allegretto
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, Sz. 40, BB 52 - III. Allegro vivace
String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85, BB 93 - I. Prima parte. Moderato
String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85, BB 93 - II. Seconda parte. Allegro
String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85, BB 93 - III. Ricapitulazione della prima parte. Moderato
String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85, BB 93 - IV. Coda. Allegro molto
String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, BB 110 - I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, BB 110 - II. Adagio molto
String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, BB 110 - III. Scherzo. Alla bulgarese
String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, BB 110 - IV. Andante
String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, BB 110 - V. Finale. Allegro vivace - Presto

From the opening funeral dirge of the First Quartet to the incandescent frenzy that concludes the Fifth, this disc offers a genuine panorama of the Bartókian universe. A world unto itself, constantly stamped with the heritage of Hungarian folklore so dear to the composer: two years after a first volume devoted to the even-numbered works (nos. 2, 4 and 6), the musicians of the Jerusalem Quartet expertly complete their recording of a key cycle of modern chamber music, a musical saga drawn on the scale of a lifetime!