Elias String Quartet

Britten: Divertimenti
Purcell: Fantasies
Britten: Quartet No.2 in C, Op.36

A bond links Britten and Purcell, so powerful that critic Hans Keller wrote that 'Purcell... is Britten's father.' In his second quartet, Britten makes that filial debt fully explicit the language and forms of Purcell's time. The result is both fascinating and ravishing — and the Elias Quartet complement Britten's work with Purcell's own 'string quartets'. Don't come expecting a history lesson, though: this is music to delight and absorb any listener