One of the things I love the most about reviewing music is the chance to discover new works and new composers I’ve never even heard of. Today I’m delighted to bring to you the complete string quartets of Grazyna Bacewicz, a female Polish composer and violinist who lived from 1909-1969. Never heard of her? Neither had I, and once again we are grateful to Naxos for keeping alive music that the world should not lose. The string quartets are presented on two CDs, packaged individually, with numbers 1, 3, 6 and 7 on volume 1, and 2, 4 and 5 on the second volume—all played with masterly conviction by the Lutoslawski Quartet. I have something of a deserved reputation as a curmudgeon, so it’s very rare that I rave about a CD—but this is one of those rare times. The music is gorgeous, exploring a vast world of expression and technique, composed by a performer who knew the instruments intimately, played by virtuosi who clearly love it, and beautifully engineered and mastered. I can’t say enough good about these recordings. You will undoubtedly hear the influence of Bela Bartok’s quartets in this music. Bartok’s quartets are universally hailed as the greatest contribution to the string quartet repertoire in the 20th Century; Bacewicz’s quartets may be the second greatest. They are not all modernist masterpieces full of snap pizzicati and aggressive glissandi, though. Just a few examples: The central movement of her first quartet, for example, is a beautiful set of variations on a Lithuanian Folk Song, perhaps one that was sung to her by her father, a Lithuanian himself. Composed during the second world war, when Bacewicz and her family were forced to move to a refugee camp and she had to nurse her wounded sister, the second string quartet centers on an astonishingly haunting and lovely Andante that focuses not on the horrors of war, but moves between grief and nostalgia. The final movement of the Fifth Quartet, another set of variations, takes off with a pizzicato theme with constantly changing meters, then becomes more sprightly and playful with a spiccato variation over trills. I simply can’t say enough good about these discs. The music is fantastic, with something to please both conservative and more modern ears. The Lutoslawski Quartet, a multiple prize-winning and much recorded group, clearly loves the music and gives it some of their best performances ever. Your assignment is to go buy these discs and listen—repeatedly! I know I will!