In ‘But not my soul’, Ragazze Quartet stands up for Florence Price, an American composer from the first half of the 20th century. Her work is a pleasant mix of European romanticism, her ‘Southern’ roots, the emerging blues and African-American spirituals.

We combine the music of Florence Price with the always beautiful ‘American quartet’ by Antonín Dvořák, a great inspiration to Price, and with a new work by singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens. The title of this album is derived from one of the lines from her song: ‘You can take my body, but not my soul.’

The album ‘But not my soul’ has been released with Channel Classics on March 8, 2024 and was accompanied by a concert tour through the Netherlands.

Also see our programme page But Not My Soul

Artwork cover: Joana Choumali

Together with ground-breaking composer and violist Garth Knox, Ragazze releases an album with Knox’s most recent works. ‘Four Into Twenty’ is written specifically for the Ragazze Quartet and captures the resilient spirit of the 1920’s & 2020’s. Other pieces on this recording include ‘Satellites’, commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and ‘Quartet for One’, performed by Knox himself, where each string of a viola represents a member of the string quartet.

The CD has been released with Channel Classics on April 14th, 2023.

Also see our Programma page Open Spaces.

For the last and coming years we’ve declared ourselves Bartók Bound. We delve deep into his music and present his quartets in all sorts of ways and all kinds of programmes. This album is the second testimony.

Also see our programme page Bartók Bound.

Martijn Cornet and the Ragazze Quartet bring a probing version of Schubert’s Winterreise, in an arrangement for baritone and string quartet. The yearning for the unknown and the unworldly speaks from the text of each song of Winterreise. This voyage isn’t just any voyage; it is a voyage towards the undefined.

Also see our programme page Winterreise

For the coming years we’ve declared ourselves Bartók Bound. We delve deep into his music and present his quartets in all sorts of ways and all kinds of programmes. This album is the first testimony.

See also our programme page Bartók Bound.

Two works from the very heart of the string quartet repertoire, and related to one another in a special way. Mendelssohn wrote his string quartet a few months after Beethoven’s death and it clearly shows that he was strongly inspired by Beethoven’s late string quartets, specifically his opus 132. The two works seem to us to be a diptych; they mirror one another.

Felix Mendelssohn
String Quartet no. 2 in A minor opus 13
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet no. 15 in A minor opus 132

A modern song cycle with singer Nora Fischer and drummer Remco Menting written by Morris Kliphuis (music) and Lucky Fonz III (lyrics), via Excelsior Recordings. The album is inspired by the every day life of the writers and performers. All of the same genearation, they have grown up with  internet, social media, smartphones and always being available.

Also see our programme page The Secret Diary of Nora Plain

Four four three is our third cd with Channel Classics Records! After our earlier more classical oriented cds, for this release we collaborated with two ensembles from different fields. Slagwerk Den Haag with its contemporary sounds and the unusual jazz-trio Kapok.

Our second CD with Channel Classics is Česko! On Česko we go on a musical journey across Europe to the extraordinary land of Bohemia, the homeland of two composers we have come to love so much: Dvořák and Schulhoff.

Our first CD with Channel Classics is called Vivere! An album of three works by Haydn, Schubert and Widmann about death, performed by the Ragazze who are in the middle of life!

Haydn – Quint Quartet
Schubert – Death and the Girl
Widmann – Hunting Quartet