The string quartets of Debussy and Ravel, composed within a decade of each other, make a natural pairing. The Arod Quartet, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023, sets these two belle époque masterpieces in a present-day context with a third work: Al Asr, by the young French composer Benjamin Attahir.

The scope of this Erato release is further expanded with a DVD documentary about the Arod Quartet, entitled Ménage à quatre and directed by Bruno Monsaingeon. His first experience of the Arod Quartet was a revelation: “Had I ever heard such sheer strength of attack, such dramatic power, such a variety of sonic colour or dramatic range – all combined with such prodigious delicacy of phrasing?”

It was in 2017 that the Arod Quartet gave the premiere of Benjamin Attahir’s Al Asr, a substantial work which takes poetic inspiration from the Muslim afternoon prayer and the intense heat of the moment midway between noon and sunset. “Al Asr is dedicated to my wonderful friends in the Quatuor Arod,” says Attahir. “They have brought it to life in a way I would never have dared to dream.”