The Euclid Quartet's New Album, "BREVE"

Released on Afinat Records, the disc contains eleven short works for quartet

The Euclid Quartet has recently released its newest album on Afinat Records. Titled BREVE, the disc is a collection of eleven short works, and is designed to encapsulate the group's musical evolution — in celebration of its 25th anniversary season.

The common thread between each of the works on the disc is their brevity: otherwise, there is a great deal of diversity in both era and style. Opening with Mozart's Adagio and Fugue K. 546, the album goes on to cover composers such as Puccini, Bolcom, Shostakovich, Gershwin, Webern, Piazzolla, and more.

BREVE departs from the quartet's previous recordings, which have often focused on individual composers such as Antonín Dvořák and Wynton Marsalis. The breadth of music available means that listeners can easily dip in and out of the tracklist, or indeed play it on shuffle.

Formed in Ohio in 1998, the Euclid Quartet comprises Jameson Cooper and Aviva Hakanoglu (violins), Luis Enrique Vargas (viola), and Justin Goldsmith (cello). For the past sixteen years, the ensemble has been Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University South Bend.

"We thought it would be fun to collect these contrasting little gems together in one album," said violinist Jameson Cooper. "These works have been with us every step on our 25-year journey and it is long overdue to spotlight them."

"Most of them feel very much like ‘old friends’ of the Euclid Quartet!"

You can purchase the album here.