Hans Krása (1899-1944) – String Quartet, opus 2 (1921)
- Moderato, 2. Prestissimo, 3. Molto lento e tranquillo
Performed by: The La Roche Quartet
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) – String Quartet no. 2 (1925)
- Moderato (Andante) – Allegro vivace, 2. Andante – Moderato, 3. Allegro – Scherzando
Performed by: Martinů Quartet
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) – String Quartet no. 3 (1929)
- Allegro, 2. Andante, 3. Vivo
Performed by: Martinů Quartet
Hans Krasa, who was deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz in 1944 together with his professional brothers Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas and Gideon Klein and murdered in the gas chambers, composed his three-movement String Quartet opus 2 in 1921. It is a mildly dissonant work with beautiful atmospheric moments, a playful, intimate and dreamy slow movement.
Internationally, Bohuslav Martinů was the most successful among the Czech composers of his generation. He settled in France after the First World War, where the concise, three-movement Second String Quartet (1925) originated. Here and there, Czech motifs can be heard, but mainly this is a motoric neo-classical work with an unexpected ‘night music’ in the Andante-Moderato.
In Martinů’s Third String Quartet, also in three parts from 1929, the tone is more French than in the previous quartet, while the music of Bartók has also made its appearance.
