After the publication of a symphony and a piano concerto, we now start with Vol. 1 of the string quartets by Leopold van der Pals, who was born in St. Petersburg as the son of a Dutchman and a Dane and thus became a cosmopolite who counted many of Europe's most important artistic personalities among his acquaintances. The quartets are also and sensibly interpreted by the Van Der Pals Quartet, in which Tobias van der Pals, the composer's grandson, participates as cellist. Like much of what Leopold van der Pals created, his quartets are also very emotional due to personal events. Through his preoccupation with Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy, van der Pals comes upon the Goethean idea of metamorphosis, which he increasingly tries to incorporate into his music as a structural basis, as in his 3rd string quartet entitled "Metamorphoses". Although van der Pals had long experimented with artistic and musical metamorphoses, it is only in this work that he attempts to refine the idea both formally and in terms of musical development. In the course of the four short movements, the work's main motif undergoes a constant development that is perceived overall as a coherent musical progression. The motif is taken through in numerous styles and appearances, giving the music a form all its own without any repetition or recapitulation - like a little symphony.