String Quartet No. 1

It is not a coincidence that many composers seem to have written some of their most important and meaningful works for the string quartet. I grew up listening to string quartets, especially those by Beethoven and Bartók, and those works have had a tremendous impact on what I am as a composer, musician and as a human being.

In many of my works one can see some sort of a journey from darkness toward the light, in various forms. In the case of my String Quartet this journey is exceptionally arduous. There is an element of hope in some sections of the third movement, but the hope it offers is more of an otherworldly nature. In the beginning of the fourth movement the very dramatic elements of the beginning of the quartet return. Just at the point, when the listener thinks that the darker elements will ultimately prevail, the music reaches an important turning point. Through a heroic, dissonant struggle it reaches the finale, which is full of ecstasy and instrumental joy. I have given the finale, along with the metronome marking, the indication "Con fuoco all’Ungharese" - all this of course as a homage to the great Hungarian master, one of my greatest musical heroes already since the very early days of my life. 

(Olli Mustonen)