Beethoven, Ligeti & Lefkowitz: String Quartets Quartet Integra

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135:
• 1 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: I. Allegretto 06:51
• 2 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: II. Vivace 03:24
• 3 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo 07:02
• 4 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: IV. Grave - Allegro - Grave ma non troppo tanto - Allegro 07:06
• György Ligeti (1923 - 2006): String Quartet No. 2:
• 5 Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2: I. Allegro nervoso 04:44
• 6 Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2: II. Sostenuto, molto calmo 04:03
• 7 Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2: III. Come un meccanismo di precisione 03:28
• 8 Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2: IV. Presto furioso, brutale, tumultuoso 01:56
• 9 Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2: V. Allegro con delicatezza 06:06
• David S. Lefkowitz (1875 - 1955): Green Mountains, Now Black:
• 10 Lefkowitz: Green Mountains, Now Black 15:05
• Total Runtime 59:45

Info for Beethoven, Ligeti & Lefkowitz: String Quartets

"...four of the brightest young stars in classical music today. We are enjoying another golden era thanks to Quartet Integra." (Martin Beaver, First Violin, Tokyo String Quartet)

Producer’s notes: Yarlung Records returned to Zipper Hall at Colburn School in April 2025 to record the debut album for Quartet Integra toward the end of the quartet’s 3-year residency in Los Angeles. They had just returned from acclaimed performances in Wigmore Hall in London. The quartet left again after our recording for summer concerts (and a little bit of family time) in Asia before moving to Paris and Hannover in the autumn. Quartet Integra begins a two-year residency in Paris at the Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre and will continue study with Oliver Wille at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover. We will miss the quartet badly in Los Angeles and hope they return soon.

This extraordinary young ensemble — Kyoka Misawa and Rintaro Kikuno on violins, Itsuki Yamamoto on viola, and cellist Ye Un Park — play Classical, Romantic, Contemporary, and Renaissance music equally well. In fact, we explore all four eras in this recording.

We begin with Beethoven’s last published work, String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Opus 135, written in 1826. Beethoven wrote this piece at the height of his Romantic powers, but the quartet looks back with irony and nostalgia to his Classical period.

Next, Quartet Integra tackles Ligeti’s 1968 ground-breaking Sonata No. 2, which they played for me at their audition and which won me over immediately. Kyoka, Rintaro, Itsuki, and Ye Un find beauty and repose in this seatbelts-required 25-minute work full of extended techniques and mid-20th-century sound world while communicating humor and transcendent energy. Kyoka said, “When people hear the name Ligeti, many tend to associate it with contemporary music and assume it will be difficult to listen to. But in reality, that’s not the case. Especially the String Quartet No. 2, which we’re performing this time — it’s wild and destructive, yet it holds a kind of breathtaking beauty. It feels almost like watching a movie.”

We ended the concert with Green Mountains, Now Black, a new piece by David S. Lefkowitz which he completed in the spring of 2025. Donna Morton commissioned David’s piece for Yarlung Artists and Quartet Integra through Yarlung’s sister organization Coretet. Donna and her group have steadfastly supported new chamber music including from composers Caroline Shaw, Diego Schissi (who won a Latin GRAMMY® nomination for Nene, which he wrote for Yarlung’s Sibelius Piano Trio), Jamie Thierman, Eric Nathan, and Benjamin Taylor, among others. Donna serves on the boards of both Yarlung Artists and Coretet, and we relished the opportunity to collaborate again as Coretet celebrates its 10th Anniversary and Yarlung celebrates its 20th.

In planning their album cover, this image of the Toyosaki Kompira Shrine Torii Gate on the west coast of Hokkaido jumped out at us and reflected Quartet Integra’s refreshing vitality. As does the inspiration for the name of Yarlung Records, a Torii gate symbolizes a portal to the sacred in Shintoism, connecting everyday reality with transcendence. (Bob Attiyeh, producer)

Quartet Integra

Quartet Integra
Described as having “an enormous wealth of colors… and sparkling rhythms” (All News Press), Quartet Integra has rapidly gained international acclaim. The ensemble has received major prizes including Second Prize and the Audience Award at the 2022 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, First Prize at the 2021 Bartók World Competition in Budapest, and Third Prize along with the Sidney Griller Award at the 2025 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London.

Formed in 2015 at the Toho Gakuen Music High School in Tokyo, Quartet Integra came together by four passionate teenage musicians and has ever since developed a deep and enduring musical bond, marked by a shared curiosity and devotion to the string quartet repertoire.

Now based in Hannover, Quartet Integra is expanding its presence across Europe, recent and upcoming engagements including the Heidelberger Frühling ‒ Streichquartettfest in Heidelberg, the Kammermusik in Wiesbaden concert series, and the Smetana Days Festival at the Plzeň Philharmonic in Pilsen, as well as performances at the Alte Oper Frankfurt and in Bad Tölz, Merano, and Budapest.

During their residency at the Colburn School in Los Angeles (2022‒2025), Quartet Integra appeared in leading series and festivals across the United States, including the Schneider Concert Series at The New School, the Green Shoots Initiative at the Kennedy Center, the Discovery Series at the La Jolla Music Society, the Artist Series at the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Nevada Chamber Music Festival.

Quartet Integra maintains close ties with its artistic roots in Japan, giving annual recitals at Toppan Hall in Tokyo presenting a Bartók-focused series, and at Oji Hall, having presented a Schubert and Webern series and anticipating to explore Mozart and Mendelssohn. In 2025, the ensemble launched a six-year Beethoven cycle at Dai-ichi Seimei Hall, Philia Hall, and several other major venues across Japan, marking as one of the most ambitious chamber music projects in the country today.

Quartet Integra has performed with artists such as Alexander Melnikov and Augustin Hadelich, and continues to refine its artistry through collaborations and mentorship in the international chamber-music community.

Contemporary music forms an important part of Quartet Integra’s artistic activity. In 2023, the ensemble performed both of György Ligeti’s string quartets in a concert at Toppan Hall marking the composer’s centenary, demonstrating their deep engagement with the 20th-century repertoire. They have also received guidance from the Arditti String Quartet, an experience that offered valuable insights into the performance practice of contemporary music. In addition, Quartet Integra has commissioned and premiered works by Japanese composers, engaging with new ideas and contributing fresh voices to the quartet literature.

Quartet Integra consists of first violinist Kyoka Misawa, second violinist Rintaro Kikuno, violist Itsuki Yamamoto, and cellist Ye Un Park. The quartet received its early training with Kazuhide Isomura and Nobuko Yamazaki at the Toho Gakuen School of Music and as fellows at the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy. From 2022 to 2025, they served as Chamber Ensemble-in-Residence at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, under the guidance of Martin Beaver, Jonathan Brown, and Clive Greensmith. They are currently continuing their artistic development under Oliver Wille at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, and are also in residence at ProQuartet ‒ Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre for the 2025‒2027 seasons.

Booklet for Beethoven, Ligeti & Lefkowitz: String Quartets