Wooden Bodies

On Wooden Bodies, Sweden’s Malva Quartet—in the tradition of the Kronos Quartet—resolutely look to the future and, in a spirit of renewal, commission new music. Karin Rehnqvist’s “The Riddle” is mystical, folky, and totally addictive, while fellow Swede Tebogo Monnakgotla’s “Wooden Bodies” engages imaginatively with the four players’ wooden instruments and sings with a gentle eloquence. “My Desert, My Rose,” by Serbia’s Aleksandra Vrebalov, also explores the dynamic of a string quartet with fascinating results, while Lo Kristenson’s muscular “Vridna, vågsång” celebrates the sounds that emerge as pressure is increased between bow and string. It’s an intense aural evolution. And the programme ends with Caroline Shaw’s ravishing “Entr’acte,” which is surely set to become a modern classic.