Due for release in November 2025 on PENTATONE, Quatuor Diotima presents Lachenmann: String Quartets, in celebration of Helmut Lachenmann‘s 90th birthday and their 25-year collaboration with the visionary composer.
Known for pioneering “instrumental musique concrète,” Lachenmann redefined the sonic possibilities of the string quartet. Their first meeting in 1998, originally just a one-week workshop, sparked a deep artistic bond and a shared fascination with his radical approach to sound and listening. This album is the result of hundreds of hours spent in rehearsal, performance, and conversation – a tribute to a composer who has become a central figure in contemporary music. Lachenmann: String Quartets captures not only the evolution of a musical language, but also the story of a transformative and enduring partnership.
“We didn’t expect much from our first encounter with Helmut Lachenmann. As he himself would later put it, his music to us was like ‘a visit to a botanical garden’—a music in “Noise Major,” the ultimate avatar of musical deconstruction. Of course, he was the inventor of ‘instrumental musique concrète,’ and we knew he had devised a radically new way of using string quartet instruments. That, in fact, is what prompted us to accept ProQuartet’s invitation to work with him for an entire week. It was 1998, and that week would forever change the story of our quartet.
“In the years that followed, Helmut became a star—something he hadn’t quite been yet when we first met. He came to occupy, and still does, a central place in contemporary German and broader European musical life. Many young composers we meet today in academies and workshops use his grammar, his vocabulary, his notational language. This recording is the fruit of nearly 25 years of shared work: likely hundreds of hours of rehearsal, maybe a hundred concerts. And certainly hundreds of hours of conversation, and laughter. In short, a testament to 25 years of passion.”
Quatuor Diotima
DIGITAL RELEASE DATE: 21 November 2025
PHYSICAL RELEASE DATE: November 2025
