Composer Lachenmann: Noise is the New Music

Helmut Lachenmann, a composer widely recognized across Europe as a significant and influential figure, marks his 90th birthday this week. Despite his stature, his music remains largely unfamiliar and infrequently performed in the UK, where his groundbreaking contributions to contemporary sound are yet to be fully embraced. Lachenmann's compositional focus has been on a forensic exploration of instrumental capabilities, opening up entirely new sonic landscapes.

The composer's three string quartets—Gran Torso, Reigen Seliger Geister, and Grido—are central to his oeuvre. These works meticulously exploit every facet of string instruments, from their scrolls to their tailpieces, to generate sound. The music deliberately challenges conventional definitions, producing sounds that might be perceived as noise, such as muttering, shrieking, sliding, and scraping, while maintaining underlying musical structures and formal coherence.

This recording showcases Quatuor Diotima, a quartet that has developed a profound understanding of Lachenmann's challenging repertoire over a quarter-century of collaboration, working closely with the composer himself. Their performances are imbued with exceptional authority and confidence, effectively drawing listeners into the composer's distinctively strange and captivating musical universe, making for a truly fascinating listening experience.