There was a thread way back in 2001 that, strangely, has never left my mind... I didn't do anything about it at the time because, although I can appreciate and admire Robert Simpson's symphonic writing, the few of his symphonies I have heard don't reach me - or rather I must not be able to reach them - and I didn't want to risk a similar occurrence. However, there the quartets remained, in the back of my mind, and recently I had the chance, with little effort on my part, of acquiring just two - it's never too late. Now I want to hear them all. The cosmic 7th - the movement of spheres and particles darkly perceived - commemorates Sir James Jeans, astronomer and mathematician. Its three movements grow one from another in a great arch, initial mysterious stirrings building up to pulsating unrest and slowly subsiding into ever mobile tranquility. Tonally anchored lines elegantly intertwine. The 8th communicates a similar sense of abstract refinement although the second movement, ("Eretmapodites gilletti"), is stunningly evocative of a frail, mobile mosquito's persistent intent. Indeed, the quartet was written to commemorate the entomologist David Gillett. The first movement is a meditative fugue, measured and bright, that slowly increases in energy before quietening to original stillness and silence. The delicate, iridescent grace of the third movement for muted strings gently fluctuates and flows in perpetual motion, whilst the fourth is an intense and determined contrapuntal chase, building in tension, forever true to the indication "Risoluto e concentrato" - then scale and motif emerge and flow through all registers, in seemingly unpredictable pattern, to a final chord and cry. The music is beautiful. Apologies to all those who know Simpson's quartets so much better than I do. I just hope others will feel attracted. A "Robert Simpson's String Quartets" search in the subject line will bring out the messages in the archives. Regards, Christine Labroche