String Quartet No. 3

Mathias' third and final quartet was commissioned by the 1986 Harrogate International Festival and premiered there in August that year by the Medici Quartet. It has three movements: the first takes the form of a sonata, the second starts off as mysterious and lyrical and moves into a fiery climax, and the third uses exciting fugal passages and 'scherzando' sections, which make for a thrilling conclusion.