Ostinato. Very fast

Benjamin Britten made references to his opera 'Death in Venice' music in his 3rd string quartet, which he began composing in September 1975. In November, now bound to a wheelchair after a heart operation from which he never fully recovered, Britten visited Venice, where he completed the work. The deliberate simplicity and strikingly peaceful quality evident at several points seem to represent an essential element of Britten's musical thinking in this work and suggests that the composer was drawing upon his entire 50 years of creative life. 'Inspires the Verdi Quartet to relax and let its sonority unfold like a rose that's about to bloom' (Classic Today).