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The Gramophone Award-winning Silesian Quartet present a double-album of the complete works for string quartet by compatriot Henryk Gorecki. All three of his numbered string quartets were written late in life - the first in 1988 - and all three were commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. The First Quartet is a single-movement work, based on a sixteenth-century song by Waclaw of Szamotuly. The Second, double the length of the First, is subtitled 'quasi una fantasia' and follows a classical four-movement form, subtly referencing Beethoven. Gorecki completed the Third Quartet (double the length of the Second!) after the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs had catapulted his music to much wider acclaim. It extends to five movements and is considered by many to be one of his greatest compositions. In the 1980s and 1990s, Gorecki composed several collections of choral songs. Five Kurpian Songs is based on folksongs from Kurpie, a region north-west of Warsaw. The composer himself suggested that these works would be effective when performed by a string quartet, and here the Silesian Quartet gives us the world premiere recording of that version. Album Tracks 1. String Quartet No. 1, Op. 62 'Juz sie zmierzcha' 2. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 64 'Quasi una fantasia'~I. Largo. Sostenuto. Mesto - Tranquillo (quasi in Tempo I). Mesto. Semplice - Largo. Sostenuto - Poco più largo - Molto largo. Tranquillissimo. dolce, cantabile - 3. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 64 'Quasi una fantasia'~II. Deciso. Energico. Marcatissimo sempre - Con grande passione, con grande tensione - Molto furioso - Adagio - Molto energico. Furioso, marcatissimo sempre - Molto furioso - Tranquillo. Mesto (quasi largo) - Pochissimo più largo - Ancora più largo - 4. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 64 'Quasi una fantasia'~III. Arioso. Adagio cantabile ma molto espressivo e molto appassionato - Pochissimo più mosso (ma non tropp
