the earth trembled Signum Quartett

• Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928): Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 1 Janáček: Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): No. 1, Love 01:17
• Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 2 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): So that one could nevermore go back 00:59
• 3 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): My infinite happiness 00:11
• 4 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): I'm waiting for you! 00:47
• Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910): Waltz in F Major (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 5 Tolstoy: Waltz in F Major (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk) 01:10
• Leoš Janáček: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata":
• 6 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": I. Adagio - Con moto 04:06
• 7 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": II. Con moto 04:17
• 8 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": III. Con moto - Vivace - Andante - Tempo I 04:20
• 9 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": IV. Con moto 05:28
• Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 10 Janáček: Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): No. 38, Parting 01:26
• Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 11 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): I will await you at the promised time! 00:13
• 12 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): Oh for one certain look into the future! 00:20
• Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915 - 1940): String Quartet, Op. 8:
• 13 Kaprálová: String Quartet, Op. 8: I. Con brio 08:03
• 14 Kaprálová: String Quartet, Op. 8: II. Lento 09:04
• 15 Kaprálová: String Quartet, Op. 8: III. Allegro con variazioni 07:42
• Vteřiny (Seconds) Op. 18 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 16 Kaprálová: Vteřiny (Seconds) Op. 18 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): With a white kerchief he waves 01:23
• Leoš Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 17 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): All the colours of the rainbow 00:18
• Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 18 Janáček: Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): No. 29, Love letter 00:48
• Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 19 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): Merely blind fate? 01:01
• 20 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): Kamila, darling Kamilka, only now do I feel what love is 00:16
• String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters":
• 21 Janáček: String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": I. Andante 05:55
• 22 Janáček: String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": II. Adagio 06:31
• 23 Janáček: String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": III. Moderato 05:49
• 24 Janáček: String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": IV. Allegro 07:53
• Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 25 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): Oh come, come, you longed-for moment! 00:12
• 26 Janáček: Album for Kamila Stösslová, JW VIII/33 (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): Golden Ring 00:15
• Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk):
• 27 Janáček: Moravian Folk Poetry in Song (Arr. For String Quartet by Xandi van Dijk): No. 17, For whom the flower 01:59
• Total Runtime 01:21:43

Info for the earth trembled

Signum Quartett presents the album the earth trembled, recontextualising the visionary string quartets of Leoš Janáček alongside the striking String Quartet Op. 8 by Vítězslava Kaprálová. Janáček’s lifelong engagement with folk traditions shaped these works profoundly; he lays bare an extraordinary spectrum of feeling, exposing the innermost reaches of his psyche with an almost unsettling immediacy, music in which the earth really does tremble. Set against this, Kaprálová’s quartet offers balance: a strikingly youthful yet assured voice emerging from the same cultural milieu, opening an equally compelling emotional range. Interspersed throughout are fragments of Janáček’s folk song arrangements and intimate miniatures from his album for Kamila Stösslová, whose absent voice subtly haunts the programme, weaving a fragile, imagined narrative between the works.

This recording offers a fresh perspective on works that have accompanied the Quartett for many years and remain among the most emotionally overwhelming in the repertoire. Signum Quartett is frequently hailed as one of the most adventurous and outstanding ensembles of today. This is the quartet’s fourth album with PENTATONE, after the Schubert cycle including Aus der Ferne (2018), Ins stille Land (2020), and Lebensmuth (2023).

Signum Quartett

Signum Quartet
Performances of unsparing expressivity, intimacy and vitality are hallmarks of the Signum Quartet, pairing music making of the subtlest order with playing of the highest intensity. The dramatic composition of their programmes is innovative and distinct, and is realised with uncompromising perfection in interpretations of effortless transparency. (“enormously intelligent and knowledgeable programming”—Rondo Magazin)

The quartet has been a welcome guest at the Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie de Paris, Konzerthaus Vienna, Philharmonie Cologne, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and at the BBC Proms, with partners such as Nils Mönkemeyer, Dominique Horwitz, Jörg Widmann, Daniel Ottensamer, Nicolas Altstaedt and Elisabeth Leonskaja. In 2023 the ensemble will gave its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The Signum Quartet’s discography is a testament to their stylistic range: Next to the greats of the quartet literature, they have recorded works by Wolfgang Rihm, Thomas Adès, Jörg Widmann and Kevin Volans. Their recording of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Second String Quartet Lost Prayers for ECM won Classical Album of the Year at the Estonian Music Awards 2021. “A dark flaring”, their follow-up album for ECM containing South African compositions, will be released in the spring of 2025.

Following their multi-award-winning album “Aus der Ferne” (Diapason D’Or, Opus Klassik), the Signum Quartet continued its Schubert cycle for PENTATONE with “Ins stille Land”, deepening its exploration of the fascinating connections between his string quartets and songs. (“The Signum’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ is up there with the best from a crowded field”—The Strad). 2023 saw the release of “Lebensmuth”, the final installment of their Schubert trilogy, which has garnered rave reviews and won a further OPUS Klassik in 2024 for Best Chamber Music Album of the Year.

In 2015, the quartet launched its innovative social media project #quartweet, where composers of all ages and abilities are invited to tweet a short quartet of 140 notes or less on Twitter. The project has received much media attention and been featured on Deutschlandfunk, BBC In Tune and BR U-21. Contributing composers include Bruno Mantovani, Grawemeyer Award winners Brett Dean and Sebastian Currier and Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw.

In 2024, the Signum Quartet launched their “Bridge the chasms that divide” project, commemorating 30 years since the fall of apartheid in South Africa. For this, they have invited some of South Africa‘s most original and powerful voices to reflect on their own experiences and journeys before and after 1994, including composers such as Abel Selaocoe and Dizu Plaatjies. This project saw premieres at the Cologne Philharmonie and Boulezsaal Berlin, and an album of the commissioned works will be released in 2026.

In 2022 the quartet established its Bremen-based project SIGNUM open space, supported by Neustart Kultur. This will be a site for rehearsals, recordings, workshops and education initiatives as well as an interactive exchange with the public. Additionally, there will be interdisciplinary projects such as exhibitions, readings, dance and seminars with renowned lecturers.

Booklet for the earth trembled