Following two highly praised recordings for Naïve of music by Georges Onslow and the Second Viennese School, the Quatuor Diotima’s new recording presents three major compositions of 20th century American chamber music. They are Different Trains by Steve Reich (with a tape recorded by Diotima themselves), Samuel Barber’s Quartet op.11, which includes the original version of his famous ‘Adagio’, and George Crumb’s Black Angels.

Founded by graduates of the Paris and Lyon conservatoires, the Diotima Quartet is a favoured partner of many contemporary composers including Helmut Lachenmann, Brian Ferneyhough, and Toshio Hosokawa. It regularly commissions new pieces from such composers as Emmanuel Nunes and James Dillon, but by no means neglects the classic string quartet repertoire, paying particular attention to the late quartets of Beethoven, French music, and the music of the early twentieth century.

The quartet’s first recording of music by Lachenmann and Nono was awarded a Diapason d’Or in 2004 in the ‘Discovery’ category. Its discography includes the two Janacek quartets and Schoenberg’s Concerto for Quartet and Orchestra for the label Kairos, and an album with Thomas Larcher on ECM. The Quatuor Diotima’s recordings in recent years of quartets by Georges Onslow (V5200) and music of the Second Viennese School (V5240) for Naive have both been highly praised by reviewers.