String Theory 21: Mostly Viola(s)

Royer is an inspired Scelsi performer. He plays as if improvising, easing into Scelsi’s languid microtones with grace notes flicked away like involuntary twitches.

String Theory 4: String Orchestras

Ever willful, Pettersson forges sternly lyric melodies in which every pitch counts. Typical of the composer, gorgeous tonal moments, usually cadential, emerge from dissonance.

Scardanelli’s Motley, Part 2

Leos Janácek’s two string quartets are among the century’s most enduringly astonishing.