# Heavy, aggressive string quartets?



## Crazy

Hello, this is my first post here. After years of listening to rock music, the classical music started growing on me as well. 
I like the sound of a string quartet, but I found i like them heavy and aggressive, like Grieg's in G minor and Schubert's "Death and the Maiden". Could you please recommend me some other string quartets (or other string ensembles) with dark sound and a lot of energy?


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## Art Rock

Try the Shostakovich cycle. Start with #8.


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## ptr

Art Rock said:


> Try the Shostakovich cycle. Start with #8.


Yea, also the six that Bartok wrote all have a darkish flavour!

/ptr


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## norman bates

ptr said:


> Yea, also the six that Bartok wrote all have a darkish flavour!
> 
> /ptr


When I've read the title the first think I've thought was this


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## Crazy

Thanks for great recommendations! I've listened to no. 8 by Shostakovich and no. 4 by Bartok today and love them both!


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## Triplets

Beethoven. Try the Razumovsky Quartets, op. 59, 1-3.

Janacek's 2 Quartets are strikingly passionate.


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## norman bates

Triplets said:


> Beethoven. Try the Razumovsky Quartets, op. 59, 1-3.


the grosse fuge too.


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## Alypius

I agree with ptr. The string quartets of Bela Bartok are the place to begin. Glad to hear that you discovered Bartok's String Quartet #4. For me the finest performance is by the Takacs Quartet. So I've posted a YouTube of their performance below. As you probably discovered, the most aggression appears in the final movement (around 16:50 in the video):






On an earlier thread, there's been a fairly detailed discussion about this and other quartets by Bartok:

http://www.talkclassical.com/31828-cycle-review-bartok.html#post650340

That aggression emerges from the very beginning in Bartok's string quartet #5, but it alternates with either tender or searching passages. Here's the video:






Most consider Bartok's string quartets the finest of the 20th century (though some make the case for Shostakovich's).


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## Alypius

Here's a newly composed one. It's by Bryce Dessner, who leads a bit of a double life, working as a rock musician and as a classical composer. He's the lead guitarist of the rock group The National. But he's got a Masters in Classical Composition from Yale. He's performed the premier of works by American composer Steve Reich. His first CD-length collection of classical works appeared about a year ago. This is his string quartet entitled _Aheym_ (Yiddish for "homecoming"). It is performed by the Kronos Quartet, who have been on the cutting edge of new music for some 30 years:


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## Alypius

One more: It's from Bartok's countryman, Gyorgy Ligeti, one of the finest composers of the 2nd half of the 20th century. He has two string quartets. The first is punctuated with aggressive movements. This is String Quartet #1 ("Metamorphoses Nocturnes"), performed by the Arditti Quartet:


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## Guest

Try quartets by Alfred Schnittke, Peter Maxwell Davies, or Wolfgang Rihm, too.


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## Chordalrock

Schonberg op. 7.


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## TurnaboutVox

There's also plenty of heavy aggression in Max Reger's two astringent Op. 54 quartets, in Anton Webern's '5 movements, op. 5' (albeit in tiny, highly concentrated micro-doses) and in Alfred Schnittke's 4 string quartets


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## Chordalrock

Last movement of Beethoven's op 131 in C sharp minor.


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## PetrB

George Crumb ~ Black Angels













Hans Werner Henze ~ String quartet No. 5 (in memoriam Benjamin Britten)





Terry Riley ~ Requiem for Adam, for string quartet and Sound Collage (prepared tape.)
(This is in the first movement, first gentle, and quietly dark. The opening of the second movement is more than a little startling. -- The third movement, last two of the four links below, 'rocks' more than a bit -- I have no idea if it will align with your current taste quest, but recommend it nonetheless.)
This link is to a user's playlist




failing that, here are the four links...

















John Adams ~ John's book of alleged dances, for string quartet and tape. These are a series of dance-like movements, most based on popular forms and genres. Very nice, fun, entertaining. The link is several excerpts from the complete suite. [Try _Toot Nipple,_ at 02'30'']





Elliott Carter's String Quartets are dense with multiple layers of activity
String Quartet No. 2





_If you also enjoy strings as soloist in concerti with orchestra:_

Alban Berg: Violin Concerto
Stravinsky: Violin Concerto (maybe still on youtube, Gil Shaham, Violin)
Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto
Shostakovich: two 'Cello concerti, two for violin
Prokofiev: Two Violin concerti, sinfonia concertante for cello and orchestra
Ligeti: Violin Concerto
John Adams: 
Violin Concerto




Dharma at Big Sur, for six-string electric Violin and orchestra









Add P.s.
Mozart's Mozart Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546 is, imo, one of the grimmest things he ever composed.
Too, you might like his String Quintets, 'viola quintets,' with two violins, two violas and 'cello, the two violas having these Quintets all 'pitched' in a lower and darker timbre than is usual for string quartets.


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## Crazy

Alypius said:


> Here's a newly composed one. It's by Bryce Dessner, who leads a bit of a double life, working as a rock musician and as a classical composer. He's the lead guitarist of the rock group The National.


Hey, thanks for this one - the string quartet has lots of power! After that, I decided to check out some of The National's songs, but I have to admit i was very disappointed (the string quartet had made me expect something totally different than I what I heard, I guess).


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## Mandryka

Crazy said:


> Hello, this is my first post here. After years of listening to rock music, the classical music started growing on me as well.
> I like the sound of a string quartet, but I found i like them heavy and aggressive, like Grieg's in G minor and Schubert's "Death and the Maiden". Could you please recommend me some other string quartets (or other string ensembles) with dark sound and a lot of energy?


Brian Ferneyhough quartet 3 and 6

Helmut Lachenmann, Gran Torso

Heinz Holliger quartets 1 and 2

Luigi Nono Fragmente, Stille, fur Diotema; Lontananza Nostalgica; Hay Que Caminar

Iannis Xenakis Tetras

Elliott Carter Quartet 3 and 4

The Ralph Shapey Quartet

The Ravel Quartet

Schoenberg Quartet 3

Bruno Maderna Quartet in two tempos

Beethoven Quartet 11 op 95

There are some by Haydn too, but I need to think.


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## PetrB

Steve Reich ~ _Different Trains_, for string quartet and tape













... a powerful work, period 

You might also like his later _Triple Quartet,_ which can be played by one quartet pre-recording the parts for the other two quartet and playing live with that, or, as its title indicates, three actual quartets (12 players.)


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## MoonlightSonata

Have you listened to the Grosse Fuge yet? For 'heavy, aggressive' music you can't get much better, except possibly Death and the Maiden, which I think you said you had already listened to.


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## musicrom

A lot of great recommendations have been made already. I would definitely second the Reger as well as Shostakovich 8. May I also suggest Smetana's _String Quartet No. 1_?


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## Crazy

MoonlightSonata said:


> Have you listened to the Grosse Fuge yet? For 'heavy, aggressive' music you can't get much better, except possibly Death and the Maiden, which I think you said you had already listened to.


Yes, I have alredy listened to Grosse Fuge, though it was some time ago and maybe I wasn't ready to really appreciate the work then, so I guess I'll have to give it a try again.


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## OlivierM

Have a look at the Arditti Quartet. They have a history of recording peachy quartets.
http://www.ardittiquartet.co.uk/


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## Avey

PetrB said:


> Steve Reich ~ _Different Trains_, for string quartet and tape
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> ... a powerful work, period


Black crows! Don't breathe!


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## PetrB

Avey said:


> Black crows! Don't breathe!










-----------------------------------


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## HaydnBearstheClock

Try some by Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 76 No. 2, 'Fifths' - the 3rd movement is nicknamed 'Witches' Minuet'; Op. 74 No. 3 in G minor, 'Rider' has a nice, rhythmatic attack to it. Also try his Quartet Op. 20 No. 5 in F minor, which has an excellent fugue ending.


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## jurianbai

Ginastera and Villa-Lobos to follow!


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## Der Siebente Kontinent

Janáček First Quartet has some aggressive and conflicting moments. I wouldn't consider it as agressive music though, more as a passionate piece of music with emotional outbursts.


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## ArgumentativeOldGit

If you like Schubert's _Death and the Maiden_ quartet, you may want to try his other late quartets also. The Quartet No 13 in A minor ("Rosamunde") is perhaps too lyrical to qualify as "heavy" or as "aggressive", but No 15 in G major is emotionally a very intense work. I heard it live last week at the Wigmore Hall, and I felt quite drained afterwards. Like so many other late works by Schubert, there's a sense of terror about this piece.

There is a fine modern recording of ths by Cuarteto Casals, but there are first class older recordings available on mid-price by Hungarian Quartet and Juilliard Quartet.


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## HaydnBearstheClock

ArgumentativeOldGit said:


> If you like Schubert's _Death and the Maiden_ quartet, you may want to try his other late quartets also. The Quartet No 13 in A minor ("Rosamunde") is perhaps too lyrical to qualify as "heavy" or as "aggressive", but No 15 in G major is emotionally a very intense work. I heard it live last week at the Wigmore Hall, and I felt quite drained afterwards. Like so many other late works by Schubert, there's a sense of terror about this piece.
> 
> There is a fine modern recording of ths by Cuarteto Casals, but there are first class older recordings available on mid-price by Hungarian Quartet and Juilliard Quartet.


I like the 'Rosamunde' quartet a lot too, however, as AoG mentioned above, aggression is not really its main trait. The 1st movement does have something of that 'Death and the Maiden' feel, though.

Schubert's Quartet Movement in C minor is very aggressive - however, he unfortunately did not complete the full quartet. But the movement is a masterpiece. Did you try Grieg's String quartet? That one is great too.


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## DebussyDoesDallas

Chordalrock said:


> Schonberg op. 7.


This rocks--just ordered the CD. Thanks for the lead.


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## Avey

I wonder if the OP even comes by here anymore...

Regardless, we folk deliberate for posterity. I don't think anyone has nominated *Schnittke's* Second Quartet. That is one intense piece.


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## Vaneyes

LvB Late, Schubert Late, Schumann, Brahms, Janacek, Shosty, Schnittke, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Krenek, Myaskovsky, Bartok, Messiaen, Ligeti, Berio, Ginastera, Dutilleux, Carter, Xenakis.


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## Vaneyes

musicrom said:


> A lot of great recommendations have been made already. I would definitely second the Reger as well as Shostakovich 8. May I also suggest Smetana's _String Quartet No. 1_?


Yes, much of Reger's chamber seems heavy to me. I gave up on it.:tiphat:


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## PeterF

I would suggest the Sibelius String Quartet and the Tchaikovsky String Quartets. Also string quartets by Borodin, Bruckner,
Dohnanyi, Dvorak, Cesar Franck, Stenhammar.


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## Albert7

Parts of Feldman's String Quartet 1 and String Quartet 2 can be dark and heavy at times.


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## DebussyDoesDallas

Thanks to this thread, I picked up the Kronos Quartet disc of Bryce Dessner. Fantastic. When I'm not listening to metal, my tastes run Viennese classical. This is a nice mix of the two, in a way.


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## HaydnBearstheClock

Haydn's Op. 74 No. 3 in G minor, 'Rider' - I'd say it's got an aggressive edge .


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## realmassy

Despite his reputation for composing light music, Malcolm Arnold's String quartets sound pretty aggressive. I own a recording by the Maggini Quartet.
Another interesting quartet is Pavel Haas's second "From the monkeys mountains", with percussions on the last movement. Check out the recording by the Pavel Haas quartet.


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## DebussyDoesDallas

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Haydn's Op. 74 No. 3 in G minor, 'Rider' - I'd say it's got an aggressive edge .


The galloping rhythm of the finale is pure old school metal, like Dio or Maiden. :devil:


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## Brahmatist

Don't forget #3.


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## flamencosketches

Penderecki's 1st quartet.


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## starthrower

Gubaidulina quartets on Supraphon
Bacewicz quartets on Naxos
Norgard 7-10 on Decapo
Krenek quartets on Capriccio 
Berg's Lyric Suite is one of the great 12 tone quartets
Ligeti no 2 by Arditti Quartet
Xenakis quartets

These are not all aggressive all the time. I don't think that feature is attractive throughout a piece. But they are all fine modern works.


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## jegreenwood

DebussyDoesDallas said:


> Thanks to this thread, I picked up the Kronos Quartet disc of Bryce Dessner. Fantastic. When I'm not listening to metal, my tastes run Viennese classical. This is a nice mix of the two, in a way.


Funny - my brother, who collects cover versions of songs, the stranger the better, asked me yesterday for a suggestion. I came up with this:


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## millionrainbows

Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 8, one of my all-time favorites.


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## Botschaft




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## Larkenfield

If all else fails, this should do the trick:






I find the real pleasure and satisfaction is when it's over. :wave::tiphat::clap:


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## Agamenon

Shostakovich´s # 8 -15 are black diamonds!


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## John Kiunke

Mendelssohn's F minor quartet. It lacks the emotional reserve of the rest of his music, being written right after Fanny's death.


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## flamencosketches

Grazyna Bacewicz's 2nd quartet may suffice. For some reason it reminds me of the album Individual Thought Patterns by Death, the legendary death metal band.


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## Rangstrom

I think the op beat a fast retreat. I know that the title calls for heavy and aggressive, but his examples are Grieg and Schubert. To go from there to Xenakis or Carter (to pick 2 of the suggestions) would have set my tyro ears a spinnin.


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## hammeredklavier

Also playable by a string quartet:


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## MusicSybarite

This:






Pavel Haas - 2nd String Quartet _From the Monkey Mountains_

Thrilling, memorable, wild, extraordinary work!! The last movement has a percussion section making it even more exhilarating. Very recommended if you don't know it yet.


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