Bartok: Complete String Quartets

The string quartet was of central importance to Bartók throughout his career. His six quartets were written (between 1907 and 1939) at crucial turning points in the composer's creative development. From the elegiac tone of Quartet No.1 (reflecting an unhappy love affair) to the sadness and wry parody of No.6, composed on the eve of World War II, by way of the mirror forms and atmospheric 'night music' of Nos.4 and 5, they represent perhaps the biggest interpretative challenge in the genre alongside the Beethoven quartets. That challenge is met here triumphantly by The Heath Quartet.