Helmut Lachenmann

The JACK Quartet follow up their acclaimed, best selling release of Iannis Xenakis' complete string quartets (mode 209) with a disc devoted to another iconoclastic European composer, Helmut Lachenmann. Lachenmann has created a unique sound world which he refers to as 'instrumental musique concrete.' It is a world where the musical atom is not the note but the sound, which may be drawn from the instrument in all kinds of unusual ways. Strange as the soundscape may be, Lachenmann believes that the fundamental principles of music is about finding shape and continuity, about revealing the unexpected and touching the familiar, and that the string quartet, in particular, is about conversation. Even through all the use of extended techniques, this is still a music of gestures, phrases, even melodies. The JACK Quartet, specialists in new music, are the perfect performers for such repertoire. This recording is endorsed by the composer. Liner notes by Paul Griffiths.

Gran Torso (1972), Reigen seliger Geister (1989), Grido (2000-01). Performed by the JACK Quartet.

Helmut Lachenmann on the JACK Quartet: “Once they called me their ‘father.’ But when with them I feel fifty years younger, and they are my admired brothers. Each work - not only mine - when performed by the JACK, be it Beethoven or Feldman, becomes an incredible adventure of perception, a festival of intensity, touching our emotions and touching our intellect, making us remember that as human creatures we are full of possibilities and able to open our horizons infinitely. They are pure artists in that their humanity and virtuosity are one and the same: maybe they don’t know or aren’t aware of it, but that’s what they do: create happiness in the deepest sense.” Leonberg, February 14, 2014.