Don Satz mentioned: >20th Century Norwegian String Quartets performed by the Oslo String Quartet >for Naxos. Composers include Valen, Egge, Kvandal, and Janson. Let's hear >it for Norway! I'm very impressed by the Kvandal String Quartet No 3, which is the longest work on the CD. Annoyingly, it reminds me of something but I can't place what - Martinu, perhaps. In places, there are echoes of Shostakovich, but for the most part it's individual as well as musical. I've not come across Kvandal's music before - is any more of it recorded? IMO the Egge String Quartet No 1 is also well worth hearing, although it's in an unlikely mix of styles. Different parts of it sounded like Vaughan Williams, Schoenberg and Bartok. The individual movements are good, and they seem (just about) to fit together as a coherent work. The two shorter works weren't so interesting. I found the Valen String Quartet No 2 bland - it was pleasant enough in an inoffensive way, but unmemorable. I didn't understand the Janson String Quartet at all - maybe there's something there that I'm missing, but it seemed to take far too long to get going and it wasn't worth the wait. Overall, though, the CD is worth getting for the two main works on it. Peter Varley [log in to unmask]