Time brings with it many changes in the course of a lifetime. ‘The only constant in life is change’, stated the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. The Italian composer Carlo Alessandro Landini, whose string quartet was premiered by the renowned Arditti Quartet at the Darmstadt Summer Courses in 1994 and has made him famous in Germany since, has always been concerned with change and transformation, both embodying the deepest essence of music.

In the meantime, his works have become calmer, more balanced, exuding aesthetic beauty and harmony through their tonal inventiveness. The listener is surprised by the extremely subtle sound visions that the pieces presented here suggest. They could be understood today as counter-designs – probably due to the composer’s spiritually oriented creativity – to our restless times. This leads us right into the heart of these four works.

On the background of his creativity, Landini believes in the special proximity of all art to the realm of metaphysics. He is virtually inspired by this aspect and sets out in his compositions in search of what holds the world together. His more recent works convey his message of a ‘world soul’ of some kind. His music requires a listener who opens up in order to broaden the shared horizon and feel more strongly what is happening between heaven and earth. Landini continuously unfolds his music from a nucleus. The composer demands intensive, sensitive listening to space and time from himself, his performers and his listeners. Olivier Messiaen, whose student Landini had been, must have encouraged and inspired him in this.