PANUFNIK · LUTOSLAWSKI : String Quartets (Tippett Quartets) (2014) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Polish composers Andrzej Panufnik (father of Roxanna) and Witold Lutoslawski were near contemporaries, but the string quartets of Panufnik here (and much of his other music besides) follow that of Lutoslawski chronologically as well as stylistically. The three quartets by Panufnik and the single example by Lutoslawski here share a reflective, deliberate mood and several principles of organization: a nonserial, but pitch-collection-oriented, tonal world; extreme yet subtly handled textures; and aspects of aleatoric (chance) procedure, controlled as to its overall effect but imparting a kind of instrumental freedom. The program makes sense, but it's hard to escape the feeling that Lutoslawski does it better: the dry structural organization of the Panufnik quartets doesn't quite fit with the extramusical content like the rhythm of wind in telegraph wires. The Tippett Quartet is very much in its element here, though, and it is likely that these rather underexposed works will find an audience among those interested in the consistently strong Polish contemporary scene of the later 20th century. James Manheim