'Round Midnight

"After the well-received "Beethoven Around the World", Quatuor Ébène’s newest venture veers around the bend to a very different place: a series of contemporary works revolving around the theme of night. The conception of "‘round midnight" started back in 2015 and the end product features works by Dutilleux and Schoenberg. Night Bridge, a composition by the group’s own cellist, Raphaël Merlin, does just as the title suggests, connecting the aforementioned selections with some jazz and film inspiration thrown in. The artists write that night robs us of our eyesight, thus changing the perspective of the world around us. Some of the more esoteric works in "‘round midnight" do a similar thing: in the absence of familiarity and expectation, our ears are encouraged to seek a new dimension in the music." (theclassicreview.com)