John Ramsay is a professor of geology by profession but also a very serious composer, of both chamber and orchestral works. His style is chiefly tonal though he does utilise serial techniques on occasion. The four string quartets are perfect examples of the best of 'post-modernist' music, employing no artificial boundaries, but being pure self expression using the most appropriate musical forms. They are to some degree programmatic and thus Romantic in idiom too and thoroughly deserve a place in the chamber music repertoire.

Tracklist:

String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: II. Molto Moderato
String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: III. Scherzo
String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: IV. Lento - Rondo Vivace
String Quartet No. 2 In E Minor, "Shackleton": I. Moderato
String Quartet No. 2 In E Minor, "Shackleton": II. Adagio
String Quartet No. 2 In E Minor, "Shackleton": III. Adagio Molto - Funeral March
String Quartet No. 2 In E Minor, "Shackleton": IV. Allegro, Flamenco - Adagio Molto
String Quartet No. 3 In C Major: I. Adagio - Allegro Con Spirito
String Quartet No. 3 In C Major: II. Adagio
String Quartet No. 3 In C Major: III. Scherzi
String Quartet No. 3 In C Major: IV. Andante Moderato, Ostinato
String Quartet No. 3 In C Major: V. Allegro Moderato
String Quartet No. 4 - "Charles Darwin"

UPC: 809730852824
Label: Metier
Release Date: 5.8.12
Format: CD

Fitzwilliam String Quartet - Four String Quartets (2 CD)