Pas de Quatre

Detlev Glanert wrote his String Quartet No. 2 to mark the 80th birthday of his teacher Hans Werner Henze. The title suggests that the king of genres in chamber music can not only be a 'conversation' but also a multiform dance of four (not always sensible) partners. The ten-minute piece was premiered by soloists of the Bavarian State Orchestra at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich on 7 April 2006. 'A surprisingly fresh and concentrated piece... The gestural was contrapuntally elevated, a fugato hurried past the scene, rugged rhythmic edges put up obstacles. In the overlapping of such moments, a kind of dream landscape was created.' (Reinhard Schulz, Süddeutsche Zeitung)