Lukas Foss String Quartet No. 3 (1976) New World Records 80703 (compilation from CRI LPs) Lukas Foss (1922-2009), who died last year, was one of the most accomplished of experimental American composers of the 20th Century and this compilation of re-issues is greatly to be welcomed and enjoyed. The uncompromising string quartet " themeless, tuneless, and restless - - probably the first quartet without a single pizzicato since Haydn" was rehearsed for the composer at an airport. An abrasive, tough piece, it’s been characterized as a “minimalist Grosse Fuge”. It is especially welcome to me as featuring pianist Yvar Mikhashoff, a crucial figure in London's contemporary music scene at the Almeida Festival in the '80s. Recommended, especially to UK readers for whom Lukas Foss' is a not well known name. Peter Grahame Woolf See also Foss's complete piano works recorded by Scott Dunn & Beliavsky
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