Ginastera: String Quartet & Piano Quintet / Ravel: String Quartet

Had Alberto Ginastera not been born three years after the scandal-ridden premiere of *The Rite of Spring*, one might easily mistake him for one of the earliest followers of the “pagan” Stravinsky: The wild rhythms of primeval dances, volcanic eruptions of the most complex sound textures, and technical challenges of all kinds permeate his work, which nevertheless avoids formal arbitrariness. His First String Quartet from 1948, for example, follows classical conventions, the performance of which causes many bows to lose their horsehair—no different from the Piano Quintet, premiered in Venice in 1963, which explores the limits of what is possible in seven extremely concise sections that the composer described as “neo-expressionist.” In this context, Maurice Ravel’s unique string quartet serves as an “impressionistic” counterpoint and a delicate haven of tranquility.