As an elite string player, whose Amar Quartet was one of Europe’s most exploratory chamber groups, Hindemith was perfectly placed to write his powerful sequence of string quartets. One of the greatest quartets of its time, the technically sophisticated No 5, Op 32 reveals Hindemith as a master of the medium. Twenty years were to pass before No 6 in E flat, written in America, which reveals similar qualities of control, whilst No 7 in E flat was written for himself to play in a domestic setting with female students from Yale University and his wife, an amateur cellist. It concludes one of the twentieth century’s greatest cycles of quartets. String Quartet No. 5, Op. 32 1 I. Lebhafte Halbe 06:21 2 II. Sehr langsam, aber immer fliessend 10:43 3 III. Kleiner Marsch 01:59 4 IV. Passacaglia 11:14 String Quartet No. 6 in E-Flat Major 5 I. Sehr ruhig und ausdrucksvoll 05:31 6 II. Lebhaft und sehr energisch 04:15 7 III. Ruhig. Variationen 08:20 8 IV. Breit und energisch 06:28 String Quartet No. 7 in E-Flat Major 9 I. Fast 02:55 10 II. Quiet. Scherzando 02:34 11 III. Slow 06:02 12 IV. Canon: Moderately fast - Gay 04:51
