Bozidar Kunc (1903-1964)
Quatuor à cordes en fa majeur, op. 14

Fran Lhotka (1883-1962)
Elégie et Scherzo pour quatuor à cordes

Josip Štolcer Slavenski (1896-1955)
Quatuor à cordes n° 4

Sebastian String Quartet

Andelko Krpan, violon
Teodora Sucala Matei, violon
Nebojsa Floreani, alto
Zlatko Rucner, violoncelle

Il semble assez logique que la musique de compositeurs originaires de Slovénie, de Serbie et de Croatie, toutes trois Enclavées entre l’Autriche, l’Italie et la Hongrie, porte les stigmates d'un Beethoven, d'un Bartok, voire un Boccherini ; cela serait cependant bien raccourci de la réduire à cette analyse. Et pour cause, les œuvres pour quatuor à cordes de Bozidar Kunc, Fran Lhotka et Josip Stolcer Slavenski rassemblées ici ne manquent pas de caractère ni de singularité, au contraire même. C’est aussi un disque qui permettra de redémontrer l’infinie inventivité que porte et portera toujours la formule du quatuor à cordes, véritable énergie renouvelable du répertoire. Enfin, il va sans dire que le travail réalisé ici par le quatuor Sebastian ouvre un immense champ des possibles qui pourrait germer de ces œuvres si peu jouées, aux horizons d’interprétation prometteurs, tellement les ressources utilisées font appel à une large palette technique. Mais les modes et la pression des ventes, c’est une autre histoire. (Jérôme Leclair)

Music from the Sebastian String Quartet’s native Croatia, by Croatian composers or by composers who spent a significant part of their careers in Croatia, forms a special focus in this ensemble’s work. Bozidar Kunc was one of the most distinguished Croatian composers of the twentieth century as well as an extraordinary pianist who was known as »the Croatian poet of the piano.« His only String Quartet very freely treats tonality, expands its space through the linking of various instrumental parts, and often uses them as a colorful backdrop for melodies full of imaginative aspiration in which traces of folkloristic idiom sometimes come into view. Kunc’s deftly articulated and richly colored string sound reveals a composer of a unique individuality. The Czech composer Fran Lhotka exercised a strong influence on the Croatian music scene for more than fifty years. He brought the best Czech traditions to Croatia and fit so perfectly into the environment of his new home that it hardly would be possible to discuss the national musical movement that arose in Croatia during the first half of the twentieth century without mentioning his name. Lhotka’s captivating Elegy and Scherzo proves to be a fascinating work with contrasting themes invented in the spirit of folk music. Josip Štolcer Slavenski compiled one of the most interesting and most unusual life’s works that Croatian music of the twentieth century has to offer. This enthusiastic innovator was interested in a great many things and open to the most recent musical events in Europe even though he was absorbed in his own world. He composed powerful and unconventional works without direct models or formal and stylistic determinants. In 1938 he wrote his fourth and last Quartet to Balkan dance music and with highly varied and finely crafted themes. All these pieces have in common folkloristic expression and elemental power with a lasting impact.