Based in Auckland, the Jade String Quartet has maintained a strong presence in New Zealand’s chamber music scene, committed to commissioning, performing, and recording music by New Zealand composers, alongside masterworks from the string quartet repertoire. Their new album features three string quartets by Anthony Ritchie, for whom the string quartet is a preferred form to express his personal thoughts. The first of the three stylistically diverse quartets on this recording is a tour-de-force, exploring an avant-garde sound world. The second forges a new path via the use of magic squares, while the third encapsulates Ritchie’s recent move to a more straightforward, “naïve” style. The three quartets span a period of 40 years, with the first completed in 1983, the second in 2003, and the third in 2023.