The expansive Third String Quartet of Wolfgang Rihm with the title "to the heart of things" (freely translated into English) is a very good example of how a wide variety of musical resources, which are lying at the foundation of the mind of the creator, are turned to very personal ends. The wild beginning leads to gorgeously refined beauty. The quartet is tense and unstable in its expression and is very diverse seen from a stylistic point of view. In spite of its length and many movements, it forms a perfect unity esthetically. Mahler’s words "that which is found behind the notes is what it (music) is about" are appropriate here.
Let us find out more about those notes now.

 

 

 

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