Michael Finnissy (b1946): Second and Third String Quartets Kreutzer Quartet NMC D180 • Asked to sum up how he would characterize his two String Quartets - written in a neoclassical style and influenced by the sound world of Bruckner and Schoenberg - Michael Finnissy answered, 'rich and chewy'! • In 2011 Michael Finnissy created a daring new interpretation of Mozart's Requiem.   To influence his completion of the parts left missing after the 18th century composer's death he said, "I imagined Mozart in the present day, working to complete the Requiem, looking back across the centuries which have passed since his death.   I asked myself what composers, musical genres and historical events would have influenced him since 1791 – this helped to shape my work." • Composer Judith Weir says she regards Finnissy as the most important living British composer. Despite having no score (the piece is a series of parts, each prefaced by the instruction that it is 'intended that parts should drift slightly apart') Michael Finnissy's Second Quartet is 'based on a compact Haydn model' - originally intended to be the 'Lark', Op.64, No.5 - and traces of its antecedent can be discerned within it.   By contrast, the Third Quartet incorporates actual birdsong, both transcribed and recorded, in the composer's response to the natural world and our place in it: the instruments gradually fade out, to leave only the sound of birds. TRACK LISTING 01. Second String Quartet     [19'19] 02. Third String Quartet     [44'13] NMC Recordings are distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading, P.O.Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone (03) 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile (03) 9444 6879