SZYMON LAKS (1901-1983): String Quartet No. 3 "sur des motifs populaires polonais", KAROL SZYMANOWSKI (1882-1937): Nocturne and Tarantella, Op. 28 (arr. Myroslaw Skoryk [b.1938]), MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937): String Quartet.

Description: As a reminder: Laks survived Auschwitz-Birkenau because he was the copyist and director of the camp orchestra. This quartet was apparently planned in Auschwitz and written after his liberation in 1945. Around a dozen recognizable Polish folk tunes are used and its incisively rhythmic finale uses music from the Gorals of the Podhale district in the Tatra mountains. Before the war, Laks spent a lot of time in Paris (as, of course, did Szymanowski), which explains the Ravelian sound quality of much of this very attractive quartet. Szymanowski Quartet.