Berg: String Quartet – Webern: Langsamer Satz – Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2

The so-called Second Viennese School, active in the early 20th century, divides listeners to this day. Some cherish its edgy innovations, while others hear only an abandonment of conventional melody and harmonies. The School’s three main composers each have a work on this fascinating Heath Quartet album. Far from sounding “difficult,” the opening of Berg’s *String Quartet, Op. 3* sings lyrically, especially in the keening violins. Webern’s “Langsamer Satz” is also warmly expressive. In the ghostly finale of the *String Quartet No. 2*, Schoenberg sets a poem by Stefan George. Soprano Carolyn Sampson is the caressing soloist, breathing what the text calls “air from another planet.”