The American composer Elliott Carter (1908-2012, wow, that is more than 100 years!) wrote five string quartets that are according to some the best of its kind since Bartok. I don’t think I agree, but they are certainly adventurous. This is modernism at its finest. On top of that, the compositions won the composer the Pulitzer Prize for music.
In the third quartet Carter splits the quartet in two duos: the first violin with the cello, versus the second violin with the viola. Each duo plays one part of a selection of pieces, and the complication of the piece lies in the combination of these when played together. Some strange effects can occur.
Carter was in good contact with the Juilliard Quartet, for which the composition was written. The second was commissioned by another quartet, but they refused to play it after receiving it. So it was given to the Juilliard for the premiere in 1971. So both quartets presented here are performed by the famous quartet from New York.