Listening to the Amber Quartet, one hears the meeting of two worlds—the echoes of an ancient musical tradition intertwined with the legacy of Western classical music. As the undisputed standard-bearer of Chinese string quartet excellence, the ensemble has been breaking new ground since 2005, becoming the first Chinese quartet recognized by institutions such as the Escuela Superior Reina Sofía and the McGill International Academy.
Puccini’s Crisantemi finds a delicate counterpart in Buried flowers by Wang Liping, a renowned Chinese composer known for his film scores. Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor is reflected in Totem by Zhang Zhao, whose musical language evokes the folk melodies of his childhood in Yunnan, bringing them to life with a fresh and deeply personal voice.
Ning Fangliang, violin
About Yajing, violin
Qi Wang, viola
Yang Yichen, cello
With the participation of Matthew Rose
Production Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi
ARMONIE D'ORIENTE
Giacomo Puccini
Crisantemi for string quartet
Zhang Zhao
Totem for string quartet
Rubato Largo
Moderato
Lento
Allegro
Wang Liping
Buried Flowers for string quartet
Claude Debussy
String Quartet in G Minor op. 10
Animé et Très Décidé
Assez vif et bien rythmé
Andantino, doucement expressif
Très modéré — Très mouvementé et avec passion
INFORMATION
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Text by Gianluigi Mattietti
Apart from a youthful trio and the three sonatas composed during the final years of his life, Debussy explored chamber instrumental music only once, with his String Quartet. Composed in February 1893 and premiered on December 29 of the same year in Paris by the esteemed Ysaÿe Quartet, to whom the work is dedicated, it left both audiences and critics somewhat bewildered by its novel approach to writing—anticipating the stylistic turning point that would lead to Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and to Debussy’s mature, highly personal idiom. Its fluctuating, nervous, and airy character—seemingly spontaneous—is in fact the result of rigorous construction, shaped by innovative rhythmic, timbral, and harmonic solutions, modal inflections, and a cyclical form that spans the four movements and intertwines with the principle of variation. What emerges is a supple musical architecture that compresses development and draws all thematic material from a generative core—a four-note cell (G–F–D–F) presented immediately by the first violin in the syncopated opening theme (Animé et très décidé), and soon reimagined, in a new permutation, as the second theme, lyrical and expressive. In the central section, this material becomes layered and dense, marked by powerful accents, long crescendos, and shimmering colours.
Four pizzicato chords introduce the playful scherzo (Assez vif et bien rythmé), dominated by a staccato, nervous, and repetitive viola theme that migrates across the ensemble, accompanied by a dense web of pizzicati, and returning in various guises—now lyrical, now declamatory (on the lowest string of the first violin)—before dissolving in a pianissimo coda. The third movement (Andantino, doucement expressif) opens with muted strings and a soft pedal in D-flat, revealing a languid, introspective theme that accelerates into a central section of dense writing, full of tension and played without mutes. After an improvisatory introduction, the finale (Très mouvementé et avec passion) unfolds as a mine of harmonic and timbral invention, with the generative theme reappearing in ever-new forms until the propulsive coda (Très vif), launched into the upper register and ending with a powerful G-major chord.
Unlike Debussy, who left only one complete opera (Pelléas et Mélisande), Puccini’s fame rests entirely on his operatic output. His orchestral and chamber music is limited to a few academic exercises—including three short minuets and a scherzo for string quartet—and other occasional works of modest scale. The most significant is the quartet Crisantemi(“Chrysanthemums”), composed in 1890, early in his career (shortly after the premiere of his second opera, Edgar). According to Puccini himself in a letter to his brother Michele, the piece was written in a single night, inspired by the death of Prince Amedeo of Savoy. It premiered on January 26 of that same year, performed by the Campanari Quartet, and was an immediate success.
Structured as a single movement with the character of a threnody, it adopts a simple ternary form based on two contrasting themes. In the principal section (Andante mesto), the first theme in C-sharp minor grows from a pianissimo chromatic opening—lyrical and mournful—culminating in an impassioned, full quartet outcry (Sostenuto). The second theme, in F-sharp minor, appears in the central section: an expansive arc sung by the first violin (con molta espressione) over a soft tapestry of viola semiquavers, eventually fading back into the return of the first theme. Three years later, both themes were reused in Manon Lescaut—the first as orchestral background in Act IV, the second to underscore the prison duet in Act III between the ill-fated lovers.
Also inspired by flowers and mourning is the quartet Buried Flowers, arranged from a song by Wang Liping, originally composed in 1987 as part of the soundtrack for the film Dream of the Red Chamber. The film is one of many adaptations of the eponymous 18th-century novel by Cao Xueqin—considered the pinnacle of classical Chinese literature, written during the Qing dynasty. Wang Liping (b. 1941, Changchun) is best known for his songs and film scores, and his thirteen songs for this film—resulting from meticulous research into the novel, traditional Chinese opera, historical musical forms, and poetic traditions—earned him lasting acclaim. Buried Flowers is based on a poem spoken by the melancholic heroine, Daiyu (Chapter 27: “The flowers fall and fly into the sky, the red fades, the fragrance vanishes—who will mourn them?”), expressing her sorrowful view of life. Wang set the text to a simple, moving melody resembling a lament, alternating two contrasting phrases with subtle variation.
In the string quartet arrangement by Yang Yichen—cellist, founder of the Amber Quartet, and nephew of a renowned Taiwanese composer—the first phrase of the melody is introduced by the cello, with a dotted rhythm and gentle echoing from the other instruments. The second phrase, entrusted to the viola, unfolds lyrically, supported by chromatic inflections and reiterated chords, and closes with a motif recalling the end of the first phrase. The full melody is later taken up by the first violin and passed around the ensemble, growing in intensity before calming again with a reprise of the introduction, delicately punctuated by fragments of both themes and ending in a hushed coda, with the first violin once more in prominence.
Also active in film and television music is Zhang Zhao (b. 1964), a student of Guo Wenjing and composer of works performed by celebrated artists such as Lang Lang and Yundi Li. A hallmark of his musical language is the rediscovery of Chinese folk traditions, particularly the music of the Ailao Mountains in Yunnan Province, where he was raised. This folkloric spirit is evident in works like Ailao Rhapsody for piano and orchestra, Harmony of Seven Colors for traditional Chinese orchestra, the ballet Memories of the Grasslands, the opera The Mustard Seed Garden, and the 2001 string quartet Totem. This work blends varied styles and techniques, combining percussive elements, folkloric rhythms and melodies, and explicit references to Bartók’s quartets and Stravinsky’s Petrouchka.
The opening movement (Rubato Largo) is suspended in mood, with the viola spinning a rhapsodic line that flows directly into the second movement (Moderato), a scherzo in 6/8. Here, pizzicato textures underlie a dancing, Bartókian theme introduced by the first violin in its lower register. The increasingly dense, driving texture culminates in a polyrhythmic, percussive climax, featuring pizzicato chords and sound effects produced by striking the strings with the hand. The third movement (Lento) begins with a low, cadenced cello pedal, over which the viola sings a mournful melody, later taken up in fugato by the rest of the ensemble. In the final movement (Allegro), the viola introduces a folk-inflected line, followed by a sprightly, ornate figure in the first violin, over a dense and dissonant texture of pizzicati, bowed double-stops, and percussive effects on the body of the instruments. The piece concludes with a Moderato coda, where a brief unison motif is followed by a spectacular gesture of tremolos and glissandi from all four instruments.
Samuel Barber composed Dover Beach, for baritone and string quartet, in 1931 at the age of 21, while still a student of piano, voice, and composition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He premiered the work himself as vocalist on May 12, 1932. Barber had been deeply moved by the introspective intensity and modern resonance of Matthew Arnold’s poem Dover Beach, which explores the contrast between a serene night seascape and the poet’s inner turmoil—his spiritual and moral uncertainty, and his despair. The result is a contemplative piece, where voice and instruments are closely intertwined. (“Dover Beach is a very difficult piece because no one dominates—not the voice, not the quartet: it’s true chamber music,” Barber once remarked.)
The music opens in an austere D minor (Andante, un poco mosso), with mournful harmonies and a gently undulating motion that evokes the calm sea off the cliffs of Dover. The central section, in D major, unfolds as a lament-like recitative—“Sophocles long ago / Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought / Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow / Of human misery”—rising in intensity to a searing fortissimo (con agitazione) at the final stanza: “Ah, love, let us be true / To one another! for the world, which seems / To lie before us like a land of dreams,” underlining the poet’s bleak view of human existence. The piece ends by returning to the slow, wave-like motion of the opening, setting Arnold’s haunting final lines: “And we are here as on a darkling plain / Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
Founded in 2005 at the Central Conservatory of Music, the Amber Quartet, who represents the highest level of chamber music in China, has created history of Chinese chamber music for multiple time: the first Chinese chamber ensemble winning the highest award in an international chamber music competition, the first and only Chinese inheritor of the legendary Alban Berg Quartet, the first public-funded Chinese chamber ensemble entering the Instituto Internacional de Música de Cámara at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia de Madrid and graduating with full credit, the first and only Chinese chamber ensemble invited by the renowned McGill International String Quartet Academy (MISQA), and the first professional string quartet listed in China National Art Foundation. As the most influential professional Chinese chamber ensemble, the Amber Quartet has received multiple awards, including the highest awards and the best interpretation of modern works in ASIA-PACIFIC Chamber Music Competition, the silver medal in Chinese Golden Bell Music Competition, and the Central Conservatory Chamber Music Competition. After the establishment, the Amber Quartet has had concert appearances internationally, leaving footsteps in concert halls throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The Amber Quartet has also received interviews by numerous medias worldwide, such as the flagship music magazine "The Strad", Xinhua News Agency, China National Radio, Australia ABC Radio, Australia SBS Radio, Spain National Radio, Oberösterreichische Rundschau, Spain Euro-Chinese Times, Beijing News, Guangzhou Daily, Music Times, Club Magazine, etc. The Amber Quartet has also devoted to academic and research field and they were proved to be capable and visionary. The Amber Quartet has performed over one hundred works of string quartet covering the history of Western music for over four hundred years. Meanwhile, the Amber Quartet pays great attention on promoting Chinese chamber compositions. In recent years, the Amber Quartet has collaborated with composers and musicians in traditional Chinese music and premiered many chamber works that combine Western and Eastern elements. In 2018, the Amber Quartet and Professor Lan Pan in musicology from Central Conservatory of Music co-founded the innovative key research project Deep Integration of Performance and Theory. Based on the high-level musicality and academic achievement, the Amber Quartet was selected in the 2019 Youth Talent Funding Program of China National Art Foundation. Members of the Amber Quartet have multiple achievements in music education. Fangliang Ning, Yajing Su, Wang Qi, Yichen Yang are formal teachers at Central Conservatory of Music in chamber music and string performance. Starting from 2015 they have taught over forty students who won awards in various chamber and solo competitions. Besides regular teaching, they encouraged and led students in public welfare activities including High-end Music Entering College benefit concert and benefit lectures at NCPA, which received positive social responses. Members of the Amber Quartet have committed themselves to the popularization of classical music through Amber Quartet Concert Plus, an integrated and creative lecture-concert series aiming at fostering mass audience to appreciate classical music. The Amber Quartet studied under Professor Yun Chen and Professor Bing Yu from Central Conservatory of Music, and Professor Günter Pichler from Alban Berg Quartet in Spain. The Amber Quartet was also coached by a number of world-renowned chamber artists including Gerhard Schulz, Valentin Erben, Michael Tree, Harald Schoneweg, Wolfgang Jahn, Hanxiang Gong, etc. Members of the Amber Quartet perform on four ancient Italian instruments generously loaned by Hong Kong China Foundation. The renowned French case manufacture BAM has generously sponsored the Amber Quartet with their instrument cases. Starting from 2018, the Amber Quartet has signed with the publisher G. Henle and adopted its free score support service. ***
British bass Matthew Rose studied at the Curtis Institute of Music before becoming a member of the Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In 2006 Matthew made an acclaimed debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – for which he received the John Christie Award. Matthew’s international career has seen him enjoy a close relationship with the Metropolitan Opera, for whom he gave his 100th performance in 2022. For The Met, Matthew has sung Filippo II and Monk Don Carlos, Raimondo Lucia di Lammermoor, Claudio Agrippina, Masetto and Leporello Don Giovanni, Oroveso Norma, Ashby La Fanciulla del West, Talbot Maria Stuarda, Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Night Watchman Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Frère Laurent Roméo et Juliette and Colline La bohème. The 2024/25 season includes a return to the role of Fasolt in Das Rheingold for the Bayerische Staatsoper, and performances of Rocco in Fidelio with the Opéra National de Bordeaux. On the concert platform, Matthew sings Bruckner's Mass No. 3 with the SWR Symphonieorchester, Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and returns to Winterreise in performances across the United Kingdom. Recent opera engagements include his house and role debut as King Marke Tristan und Isolde for Grange Park, Baron Ochs Der Rosenkavalier for La Monnaie, Wotan Die Walküre for English National Opera and Staatstheater Darmstadt, Gremin Eugene Onegin for Garsington Opera and Leporello Don Giovanni for Chicago Lyric Opera. Elsewhere Matthew has sung Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Lyon, Philadelphia Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Metropolitan Opera & The Royal Opera House. Other roles at ROH include Pimen Boris Godunov, Sparafucile Rigoletto, Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, Raimondo Lucia di Lammermoor, Baron Ochs Der Rosenkavlier, Timur Turandot, and Talbot Maria Stuarda. For Glyndebourne, Leporello Don Giovanni, Nick Shadow The Rake’s Progress, Callistene Poliuto, Le Commissaire Mesdames de la Halle and Collatinus The Rape of Lucretia. Other appearances include Baron Ochs Der Rosenkavlier for the Lyric Opera Chicago, Claggart Billy Budd and King Marke Tristan and Isolde for English National Opera, the title role Figaro for Welsh National Opera, Opéra de Lille and the Bayerische Staatsoper, Grande Inquisitore Don Carlo & Leporello at the Deutsche Oper, and Henry VIII Anna Bolena at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. In concert, Matthew has appeared at the Edinburgh Festival, BBC Proms and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. His engagements include the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Colin Davis, Daniel Harding and Michael Tilson Thomas, the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudamel, the Staatskapelle Dresden with Sir Charles Mackerras, the New York Philharmonic with Manfred Honeck, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Sir Antonio Pappano, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Kent Nagano, the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski & Edward Gardner, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Charles Dutoit, the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Jiří Bělohlávek and Marc Minkowski, the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Richard Egarr, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Kent Nagano and the Wiener Konzerthaus with Pablo Heras-Casado. Matthew’s recent concert appearances include the Glagolitic Mass with the LPO cond. Edward Gardner, Missa Solemnis with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique cond. John Elliot Gardiner, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and Mozart Coronation Mass with Gürzenich- Orchester Köln cond. François-Xavier Roth, Christus St Matthew Passion with Arcangelo at the BBC Proms cond. Jonathan Cohen, Messiah cond. Reinhard Goebel and St John Passion cond. Daniel Harding for the Swedish RadioThis biography should not be edited without permission from Askonas Holt. Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Jonathan Cohen, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France cond. Lahav Shani and for Festival Berlioz La Côte-Saint-André cond. Mikko Franck. Matthew’s recital appearances include the London’s Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington and New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh, Brighton, as well as the Chester and Cheltenham International Festivals. He is currently the artistic director of Folkestone on Song, where he works to bring song and singing to the people of Folkestone and East Kent. Recordings include a critically acclaimed Winterreise with pianist Gary Matthewman and Schwanengesang with Malcolm Martineau (Stone Records). His most recent solo release is Arias for Benucci with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen (Hyperion). Other recordings include Guillaume Tell (Walter) and Tristan und Isolde (Der Steuermann) with Pappano, Billy Budd (Ratcliffe) with Harding – Winner of a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, Bel Canto arias with Natalie Dessay and Evelino Pido, Handel’s Messiah with Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King’s College (EMI), Tippett’s A Child of our Time and Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ with Sir Colin Davis (LSO Live), and Liszt Lieder with Iain Burnside (Signum). His roles on DVD include Nick Shadow and Mr Flint Billy Budd from Glyndebourne, and Polyphemus Acis and Galatea from Covent Garden (Opus Arte). Passionate about supporting the next generation of musicians, Matthew has worked as the Artistic Advisor to the Lindemann Young Artist Programme, Metropolitan Opera, and has led masterclasses for the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, the Curtis Institue, the Royaumont Academy, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Trinity Laban and the Chautauqua Institution. In 2017 and 2018, Matthew ran his own summer course, the Scuola di belcanto, in Italy. In 2025, he will return to the country to lead masterclasses in Spoleto.
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Gustav Mahler
Jazz Club
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
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