Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) : String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46

• I. Allegro moderato - Presto - Largo 12:01
• II. Allegro vivace - Poco largamente 2:45

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75) : String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68

• I. Overture: Moderato con moto 8:31
• II. Recitative and Romance: Adagio 11:38
• III. Waltz: Allegro 5:18
• IV. Theme with Variations: Adagio

Simon Laks (1901-83) : String Quartet No. 3

• I. Allegro quasi presto 6:09
• II. Poco lento sostenuto 7:18
• III. Vivace non troppo 3:26
• 1IV. Allegro moderato giusto 5:26

Voices of Defiance, the Dover Quartet's second Cedille Records album, presents quartets of passion, hope, and resilience whose beauty defies the horrors that surrounded their creation.
The young American string quartet of the moment (The New Yorker) delivers an original, deeply felt program of three European composers distinctive responses to the destruction and despair of World War II.
Czech composer Viktor Ullmann's powerful String Quartet No. 3, written in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943, draws inspiration from Debussy's Impressionism and Schoenberg's serialism.
The ensembles muscular approach to Dmitri Shostakovich's epic String Quartet No. 2 from 1944 emphasizes its tragic qualities, befitting the albums theme.
A captivating discovery for most listeners, Szymon Laks's lyrical String Quartet No 3, written in 1945 following his liberation from Auschwitz, revels in folk melodies from his native Poland in contrasting scenes of heartbreak and ecstasy.
Winner of a 2017 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the first prize and all special prizes awarded at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, this terrific quartet (National Post) brings its confident, sinewy playing of distinctive sound and ample nuance to this recording of profound 20t- century masterworks.