Another string quartet in the Beatles?

Everyone knows how George Martin recuited an ad hoc string quartet – Tony Gilbert (violin), Sidney Sax (violin), Kenneth Essex (viola), Francisco Gabarro (cello) for an overdubbing session on the early Paul McCartney song, Yesterday. McCartney liked it so much he released a voice-free version with guitar and string quartet on the Help! album.

Yesterday has become an encore standby in the lives of many string quartets.

It has also made the Beatles irresistible to string arrangers, mostly as hack transcriptions. But a new set from the finest string quartet in the Czech Republic – and that’s saying something – caught my ear. It’s my Album of the Week on Sinfini.com. Click here.