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The String Quartet begins with a sonorous unreality in the lowest register of the cello. At first hovering round a couple of notes, in fluctuating pitch with quarter tones, con legno, later sul ponticello. Clearer contours gradually emerge. Chords develop and from their notes virtuoso figurations — still in the cello — emerge and move towards their culmination. Here the other three instruments join in pianissimo, tremolo sul ponticello. Later in high flageolet tones, while the cello in a ghostlike fashion, irrationally and with no exact pitch moves with repeated finger blows against the strings. Throughout the first two movements and the fourth, one is reminded the whole time of this ghostlike irrational element and at the same time of the musical material and its thematic treatment. Here intense dynamic contrasts appear, and the often virtuoso parts contributed by the individual instrument form seeds of identity of a kind as the musical events proceed. The third movement is a quiet meditation pianissimo con sordino. Everything here is, as it were, stripped clean, reduced to a childlike simplicity. Above a long held note on the cello, the viola and second violin glide dreamily while the first violin gives shape of a sensitive melody. This all takes place within a single arch-shaped whole, as if in a single breath.© Erik Bergman, 1983Stråkkvartetten börjar med en tonande overklighet i cellons 1ägsta register. Ur ett kretsande kring ett par toner, i svävande tonhöjd med fjärdedels-tonsteg, col legno, senare sul ponticello, framträder småningom klarare konturer. Ackord växer fram, ur vilkas toner virtuosa figurationer, alltjämt i cellon, utvecklas och driver mot höjderna. Här faller de tre övriga stråkarna in i ett pianissimo, tremolo sul ponticello, senare i höga flageoletter, medan cellon spöklikt irrar omkring i täta fingerslag mot strängarna, irrationellt, utan exakta tonhöjder. Genom de två första satserna och den fjärde påminns man hela tiden om detta spöklikt irrationella och samtidigt om det musikaliska materialet och dess tematiska bearbetning. Här förekommer häftiga dynamiska kontraster, och de enskilda instrumentens ofta virtuosa soloinlägg bildar ett slags identitetskärnor i det musikaliska skeendet. Den tredje satsen är en stilla meditation i pianissimo con sordino. Allting är här avskalat, barnaenkelt. Över en liggande orgelpunkt i cellon rör sig de två mellanstämmorna drömlikt glidande medan första violinen utformar en sensitiv melodi. Allt sker inom ramen för en enda bågformig helhet, liksom i ett enda andetag.© Erik Bergman, 1983En este Cuarteto de cuerda op. 98 escrito en 1982, la música se detiene de vez en cuando para deleitarse en silencios frecuentes y tenues sonidos para luego continuar extrayendo de lo anterior poderosos y dramáticos estallidos de sonido. En el lenguaje de este cuarteto, la textura no es lineal, sino que está marcada por alargamientos o suspensiones de la música, conseguido frecuentemente mediante trémolos, seguido de cortas «gemas» melódicas. La obra consta de cuatro movimientos, el tercero ha sido calificado como una de las más bellas piezas contemporáneas finlandesas, habiendo sido definido por Bergman como «infantil en su simplicidad». El cuarto y último movimiento manifiesta una «fuente ínextinguible de fuerza vital y ganas de vivir». Esta obra fue encargada por el Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival y fue estrenada en dicho evento por el Cuarteto Jean Sibelius en 1983.© Centro para la Difusión de la Música Contemporánea, Madrid, 1995

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Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin