Sándor Veress (1907–99) was born in Kolozsvár, then in Hungary (it is now Cluj-Napoca in Romania), but spent the last half-century of his life in Switzerland as an exile from Communism. In the 1930s he worked as Bartók’s research assistant in his work on Hungarian folksong, with results audible in the two early string quartets.

By the time of the Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra three decades later, Veress had developed a lean and muscular style. It incorporates elements of modernism but retaining a powerful sense of onward momentum, expressed in an original voice which combines head and heart in an exhilarating blend of freewheeling invention, fantasy and wit.

This is the first recording of the Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra.

The Basel String Quartet was founded at the Basel Music Academy in 1996. The Quartet’s themed programmes, often in collaboration with actors, artists, dancers and writers, are an established part of Swiss cultural life, and have opened new sound-worlds to listeners young and old. Commissions and first performances form an integral part of the Quartet’s activities. Over the years they have premiered works by such composers as Daniel Biro, Martin Derungs, Gustav Friedrichson, Daniel Glaus, Charles Koechlin, Mathias Ruegg and Chris Weinheimer. In 2009 they gave the first performance of Zweigung by Roland Moser, a composition dedicated to the Quartet.

Basel String Quartet:
- Susanne Mathé and Isabelle Ladewig, violins;
- Stella Mahrenholz, viola
- Stéphanie Meyer, cello