The Arditti Quartet’s latest release is devoted to the Mexican-born composer Hilda Paredes. Now living in England, she does not, for all that, disown her roots. Born in Tehuacán, in Puebla State, she engages critical reflection, vis-à-vis the multiple Mexican, indigenous and folk cultures, that closely combines the imaginary and political - all in writing of remarkable precision and refinement.

Convinced that the language spoken by a composer shapes his or her music, she likes to work the voice in all its expressive singularities, here that of countertenor Jake Arditti, Irvine Arditti’s son.

There is no ‘Mexican-ness’ with Hilda Paredes, in the sense of that stereotyped colourful sensuality, but rather a close relation to the poetic speech of Mexico and the European avant-garde.

“Paredes is a composer with a fresh aural imagination, while her Carter-like use of instrumentalists as dramatic protagonists gives her music an extra dimension.” - Andrew Clements, The Guardian