Long time no activity, alas. Found the time to review Alfred Hill’s String Quartets Nos. 5, 6, 11 by the Australian String Quartet, a CD published in 1997 by Marco Polo. I had never heard of Hill, didn’t even know where to situate him in chronology and geography. Turns out this Aussie was writing, in the 1920s, beautiful string quartets strikingly reminiscent of those of Dvorak (written 25 to 50 years before) and, in 1935, one that evokes Ravel’s own essay in the genre (1903). Well, if you forget the chronology and the derivativeness, they are quite enjoyable.