Glass: String Quartets Nos. 1-4

It’s fascinating to trace the development of Philip Glass’s mature style through these four chamber works, composed between 1966 and 1989. His first quartet reflects his studies with Nadia Boulanger and the lingering influence of 20th-century academic music — although you can hear the repetitive patterns that would come to typify his later work, the harmonies here are astringent and atonal. Jump to his 1980s string quartets and you hear something very different: austere consonance, relentless arpeggiation, sudden harmonic shifts. The Carduccis offer an outstanding account of these under-recorded works.