Still Going Strong: The Juilliard Quartet Plays Beethoven, Davidovsky, & Bartók

Recorded in 2017 to mark its 70th anniversary year, the Juilliard Quartet’s most recent release reflects the ensemble’s decades-long mandate to champion new works, and also revisits two Juilliard repertoire staples. Mario Davidovsky’s Fragments (String Quartet No. 6) typifies this composer’s propensity for jagged dissonant phrases that morph into long sustained tones, soft clouds of high-register chords, petulant ponticello effects, and murmuring trills that provide a backdrop for bold melodic gestures. It’s the kind of music that’s long been associated with the Juilliard Quartet, and the current lineup delivers the goods, fusing rhythmic rigor and coloristic fantasy to convincing effect.