Butterley composed four string quartets. They are all splendid works. Only String Quartet No 1 has a commercial recording. The CD is called Unfold, performed by the Kreutzer Quartet, an English quartet. A great project in waiting for an Australian string quartet would be to record all four works.
The string quartets are as follows:
String Quartet No 1 (1965)
Dedicated to Diane and Jack Carmody
String Quartet No 2 (1974)
Dedicated to Rod Powell
String Quartet No 3 (1980)
Dedicated to Tom Kennedy
String Quartet No 4 (1995)
As he was working on completing his third string quartet, Butterley wrote that
“my three quartets are about Love: sublimated (1), unfulfilled (2) and fulfilled (3). The third is dedicated to Tom, of course.”
Click on the audio controls to hear the second movement of String Quartet No 3.
