String Quartet No 4, opus 33 (1976-87). Performed by the Arditti String Quartet. "infinite to be cannot be infinite, infinite anti-be could be infinite" (for nine string quartets or a string quartet surrounded by an imaginary 128 string-"viola da gamba"). "Among contemporary composers, Horatiu Radulescu is one who has something essential to express about the enigma of time: multi-layered lines of events, their structuring, perception and potential for poetic-religious message are -- together with the development of spectral composition -- among his central artistic concerns. "String quartet op. 33" fully demonstrates Radulescu's formal invention and his powerful expressiveness. During the 49 minutes of the work, two macro-forms -- two time-worlds overlap and intersect: that of the central string quartet and that of the eight surrounding quartets. In these surrounding eight quartets, the composer deliberately creates a lively, seemingly unordered series of moments of meditative quietness, of sudden improvised actions and of collective eruptions of primal force."