Wolfgang Rihm: Streichquartette Nr. 1, 4, 8 und 5. Four quartets written between 1970 and 1988 trace Rihm’s path from youthful concentration to an eruptive, gestural language of sound. The DoelenKwartet combines analytical clarity with physical energy and preserves the lyrical core of the music amid its harsh contrasts.
The booklet opens up the historical and aesthetic context of the programme. Works and arrangements are seen not in isolation but as part of a living history of performance and reception. This makes the decisions about scoring, instruments and order easy to follow.
Doelenkwartet shapes the music with clear voice leading, supple articulation and a pronounced feeling for tone colour. Lyrical passages keep their calm and breath, rhythmically pointed sections their energy. Even in dense textures, motifs, counter-voices and formal transitions remain transparent.
The scoring – String quartet – is an essential part of the statement. Resonance, registration, touch or bowing technique and the acoustics of each space all help to shape the dramaturgy. The production preserves these differences and makes both the finest gradations and the great dynamic arcs audible.
The album follows no mere chronology but a deliberately constructed logic of listening. Contrasts between periods, types of work and instrumental colours sharpen the profile of the individual pieces, while recurring gestures and related formal ideas hold them together. What emerges is a coherent portrait rather than a chance collection.
For connoisseurs, Wolfgang Rihm: Streichquartette Nr. 1, 4, 8 und 5 offers a wealth of detail in compositional technique, interpretation and sound. At the same time the way in remains direct: speaking motifs, characteristic rhythms and incisive colours lead through the programme. The booklet deepens this listening experience without anticipating it.
Artistic conception and recording technique thus interlock. The result documents not only repertoire but shows how historical knowledge, interpretative imagination and careful sound direction complement one another. It is precisely this combination that gives the production its unmistakable label profile.