String Quartets Nos 1 & 2 / String Trio

Though Miklos Rozsa became one of the most admired film composers, he had always written music in other forms and his two published string quartets reveal important facets of his musical background. String Quartet No. 1 was written in 1950 when he was under contract with MGM and, with it's nocturnal and folk-dance imagery, is redolent of his Hungarian youth. String Quartet No. 2 is prophetic of his later sparer style, though it too is infused with great energy and high drama. The String Trio, Op. 1, recorded for the first time in it's original 1929 published version, abounds with youthful vitality.