# Kokkonen - String Quartet 3 (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Joonas Kokkonen's String Quartet No. 3 was composed in 1976 when he was 54-55 years old, about 5 years after he completed his 4th (& final) Symphony & immediately following his celebrated 1975 opera, "The Last Temptations". It was written during Kokkonen's 'third period', stylistically (i.e., works composed after 1968), where his music has been described as "neo-romantic or neo-tonal in style". It's a sarse, dark piece of less than 20 minutes duration. Only 2 recordings so I'll sum up both briefly.

*Sibelius Academy Quartet *(BIS studio 1991) - the richer, fuller, warmer playing and BIS engineering make this a top pick (among 2) for me, here. Tbh, there's little between the two recorded versions but I like how the Sibelius Academy Quartet bring this together eloquently, especially in the 3rd movement.

Jean Sibelius Quartet (live 2002) - this has a colder feel than the BIS recording and some may prefer the sparser soundworld but I definitely prefer the fuller sound of the BIS studio recording. However, as a valuable and well-recorded alternative this live version is just as pleasing.


----------

