Vision String Quartet – In The Fields (ACT, 2025)
Berlin’s vision string quartet returns in 2026 with In The Fields, its first album in five years and debut for the ACT label. The delightful release pushes beyond jazz, generating bonds between western classical music, contemporary composition, improvisation and world music.
The quartet includes Florian Willeitner (violin), Daniel Stoll (violin), Sander Stuart (viola) and Leonard Disselhorst (cello). They have built an international profile for performances that move freely between classical repertoire, folk traditions, jazz and original material. ACT CEO Andreas Brandis describes the collaboration as part of a broader strategy to deepen connections between composed and improvised music, following his long-running work with Willeitner and through Concerto.21 masterclasses.
The new album takes Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4 as its structural and aesthetic foundation. Its five-movement layout highlights Bartók’s engagement with European folk sources. The virtuoso musicians cite his fascination with material that feels both familiar and foreign as a guiding idea for the program.
Opening track “Kopanitsa,” a Bulgarian folk song in 11/8 time that Willeitner first heard from a street bagpipe player in Sofia, sets the tone with a vigorous rhythmic drive. The album then moves to “Ravel Reloaded,” a reimagining of the second movement of Ravel’s string quartet in F major, expanded with post-impressionistic writing for Willeitner and pianist Joel Lyssarides.
Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4 forms the centerpiece, presented in its original form and in an extended version featuring Austrian percussionist Bernhard Schimpelsberger, whose contributions add a fundamental rhythmic layer that the group developed on tour in Australia in 2023.
Guest collaborations continue across the disc. The quartet co-wrote and recorded new material with Iranian guitarist Mahan Mirarab and Swedish pianist Joel Lyssarides. “Lydian Rose” explores the Lydian mode, “Raindance” highlights charming plucked performances.
Mirarab’s pandemic-era piece “Convalescence” alternates between lyrical writing and insistent momentum. Lyssarides’ closing track “Skymning” functions as a subdued folk-like epilogue.
The ensemble maintains its established stage concept, performing from memory while standing and presenting itself as a band rather than a conventional chamber group. That approach feeds into alternative concert formats such as “dark concerts,” cross-genre projects and collaborations with artists including Fatma Said, Gabriel Kahane and Golnar Shahyar.
The Art in Music: Cover artwork by Sander Stuart.
Author: Tyler Bennet
