Emperor Quartet BRITTEN String Quartet in F - Simple Symphony - Rhapsody - Phantasy - Quartettino

For this final disc in the series, the Emperor Quartet have gathered five works from the composer's earliest period, from the String Quartet in F, by a fourteen-year old schoolboy, to the Simple Symphony, composed six years later and the work which may be regarded as his breakthrough.

As discussed in the insightful liner notes by the musicologist Arnold Whittall, these compositions demonstrate how the young Britten developed a personal style of his own. (Presto Classical)

“With the Emperor Quartet's quick reactions, the [Simple Symphony] takes on a new guise in this intimate form, at once spikily alive in the outer movements and confiding of private secrets at the heart of the 'Sentimental Sarabande'...these youthful pieces repay one's attention.” (Gramophone)