Marko Ruždjak: Volastra, for string quartet

Marko Ruždjak’s Volastra, a multidimensional string quartet composed in the 1970s, is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing works in the composer’s oeuvre. Colour and sound – as integral parts of the formal and expressive elements of his writing – are both determined and only indicated by a subtle gesture in this piece, leaving room for the interpreters’ imagination.
The principal point of departure for my reconstruction of Ruždjak’s score was an archival recording by the Zagreb Quartet, made with the composer’s direct involvement in the process of realising the musical ideas that are only sketched in the autograph manuscript.
In this sense, the partial reconstruction of Ruždjak’s Volastra, guided by the recording of the Zagreb Quartet, does not represent anything but a framework for the realisation of Ruždjak’s subtle idea.

(Ante Knešaurek, translated by Ankica Žarnić)

HDS, Cantus, 2022.
Edition numbers: Can. ‭320-9941‬
ISMN 979-0-801349-94-1