Supported by Brahms and Mahler in his early career but silenced as “degenerate” by the Nazis, Alexander Zemlinsky’s reputation has undergone a rebirth in recent years. Written just after the Lyric Symphony, the beauty and ironic playfulness of the Third Quartet comes from the cool, austere language of Weimar’s ‘New Objectivity’. The Fourth Quartet was amongst the last of Zemlinsky’s significant works, composed as a moving tribute after the death of his friend Alban Berg. Performed by the internationally acclaimed Escher String Quartet, this is the first of two albums of the complete Zemlinsky quartets.