String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3: 1

Paul Hindemith wrote seven String Quartets, all of which reflect the experience and practical assurance of a distinguished violinist and, later, violist. No. 2 was written in 1918 whilst he was a soldier on active duty. It's a bracing, dynamic and pithy work with a clever series of variations which parody romantic excess, and a virtuosic finale. No. 3 followed early in 1920 and was an instant success, a thrilling example of Hindemith's concise imagination at work. This passionate quartet, with it's richly varied material, is one of his supreme chamber masterpieces. In 1922 Paul Hindemith founded a quartet named after it's principal violinist Licco Amar. On the occasion of Hindemith's 100th birthday in 1995, the Hindemith Institute awarded the Zurich-based ensemble the historic name of the Amar Quartet, the members of which are Anna Brunner and Igor Keller (violins), Hannes Bértschi (viola), and Péter Somodari (cello).