Exploring the repertoire for solo violin, the young Korean violinist Sueye Park has chosen works spanning exactly 100 hundred years – from Max Reger’s Prelude and Fugue from 1909 to Penderecki’s Capriccio, composed in 2008. Framing the 20th century, the program starts as a relay race of famous violinist-composers; Reger dedicating his piece to Kreisler, who dedicated his Recitativo and Scherzo-Caprice to Ysaÿe, who wrote his Sonata No. 6 for the Spanish virtuoso Manuel Quiroga. In this series of names, that of Richard Strauss may come as a surprise, but his little-known Daphne-Etüde from 1945 is also dedicated to a violinist – his young grandson. The journey now turns eastwards with two solo sonatas, by Prokofiev and Weinberg, that were both composed in Moscow, albeit 20 years apart. These are followed by Isang Yun’s ‘Royal Theme’. The Korean-born composer uses the theme from Bach’s Musical Offering, but takes it on ‘a walk through the Asian tradition’ in the course of seven variations. In A Paganini, Alfred Schnittke revisits another colleague from the past – and one closely associated with the violin. Finally bringing us into the 21st century is Penderecki, whose early training as a violinist stood him in good stead when he composed his virtuosic Capriccio.

Copland was interested in exploring various methods of composition that might stimulate his melodic and harmonic ideas. It had been twenty years since he had adapted serialism to his own use. He said that "composing with all twelve notes of the chromatic scale can give one a feeling of freedom. It's like looking at a picture from a different point of view." Copland was the first to admit that he did not keep strictly to the rules of serialism. In fact, the sense of a tonal center is rarely missing in the Quartet.

The Juilliard String Quartet has distinguished itself as one of the longest-standing quartets in the U.S., responsible for the premieres of countless new works as well as commanding performances of the standard repertoire. Its earliest performances of Beethoven drew a substantial amount of attention for its more aggressive, in-the-string approach that did not treat Beethoven as a delicate flower as some quartets of the day had. These characteristics survived in the quartet even as its membership changed. This Medici Arts DVD samples one quartet from each of Beethoven's three main style periods, performed in 1975 at Polling in Bavaria.

Here's a deluxe package if ever there were one! Itzhak Perlman and Jorge Bolet join the Juilliard Quartet in a smashing performance of one of the most unusual works in all of music. Chausson's Concert (not "Concerto," please note) really is, in effect, a violin concerto in which the accompaniment is not the full orchestra but a piano quintet. Add to that the fully symphonic form of the piece, and the result is a unique musical creation that remains one of the chamber-music repertoire's best-kept secrets. Listen to this recording, and you'll be amazed that the music's not better known.

These quartets are Juilliard specialties, and anyone wanting to hear this music played with a near ideal combination of virtuosity and humanity need look no further. Carter's quartets are not for the musically faint of heart: they are uncompromisingly thorny, intricate pieces that require lots of intense, dedicated listening. Very few people doubt their seriousness–or even their claims to musical greatness–but just as few people enjoy listening to them. Perhaps this spectacular set will encourage the adventurous to give them a shot. They're worth the time.

In the last years of his life, Franck created three chamber music masterpieces: the Violin Sonata, the Piano Quintet, and this String Quartet. Only the Violin Sonata has achieved a full measure of popularity, and this string quartet is virtually unknown, largely because of its ambitious length and difficulty in performance. It's a terrific piece of music employing the composer's trademark cyclical form: the movements share tunes, and the finale acts as a sort of summing up of the entire work. While challenging to the performers, there's nothing difficult about it for the listener, and this performance is just about the only show in town. Fortunately, it's a very good one. –David Hurwitz

The Juilliard String Quartet was one of the pioneering string quartet formations of the 20th century. Virtuosity in playing technique, sovereign creative power and precisely coordinated tonal balance with X-ray-quality intonation purity characterized the playing of the New York formation around founder and primarius Robert Mann. Indulging in tonal beauty was not their priority. In this way, they moved somewhat outside of what was customary in Central Europe at the time. Their complete recordings for the RCA label, for which they recorded in the short period from 1957 to 1960, appear for the first time bundled on 11 CDs.

Schubert's final four quartets represent the last flowering of the Viennese Classical style. Their melodic generosity has always appealed to music lovers (and quartet players), though in the hands of some less disciplined ensembles the music can tend to sprawl. That's never a danger with these warm, impulsive performances, which allow the music's natural lyricism to flow vigorously without ever becoming sticky or sentimental. Schubert's String Quartet No. 12 is the single movement also known as the Quartettensatz ("Quartet Movement"), but the other three quartets are full-length, indeed epic works that bear comparison with the late works of Beethoven in musical richness and profundity.