FAST FORWARD INTO THE MILLENIUM
String Quartets by Kevin Malone, David Ellis, John
Casken, Robin Walker, Geoffrey Poole and Anthony Gilbert.
Coull Quartet, Nossek Quartet, the Lindsays, Camerata Ensemble
ASC CSCD11
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Kevin Malone's Fast Forward is a short energetic piece full of fine
string writing and imagination. "It is a monothematic piece based on the
first five notes of a minor scale, a fragment which obsessively grows into
thick textures until finally in a Hollywood ending, as though Philip Glass
had finally signed a contract with Stephen Spielberg" (thus the anonymous
insert notes [the composer's?]). This engaging piece which incidentally is
not as minimalist as suggested by the above quotation, exists in several
instrumentations: string orchestra, saxophone quartet and harpsichord solo.
It provides for an entertaining opener to this most varied release. I have
already commented upon David Ellis' String Quartet No.2 (1966). It is a
substantial piece of music which I find most impressive and an unjustly neglected
work that vastly repays repeated hearings. It receives a wonderful reading
by the Coull Quartet. John Casken's String Quartet No.2 (1993) and first
performed by the Lindsays in 1994. It falls into four highly contrasted
movements: "with piquant verve", "with jazzy obstinacy" (a fast moving scherzo),
"with haunted fascination" (a deeply moving slow movement) and "with playful
determination". The final product is a very fine, quite approachable work
of substance that deserves to be better known. It is also less radical than
its predecessor recorded years ago by WERGO (WER 60096 [1984] - nla). It
should anyway appeal to all those who enjoyed Casken's recent works such
as the Cello Concerto, Vaganza or Maharal Dreaming. A superb
performance by the Lindsays.
Robin Walker, born in 1953, is a name new to me. His string quartet piece
I Thirst (i.e. the fifth of The Seven Last Words) is a very
beautiful, moving short work, "a ritual of solo melody, homophony and biting
figuration". A very fine piece indeed which has whetted my appetite for hearing
more of this composer's music. Geoffrey Poole's String Quartet No. 2 (1990)
is another substantial piece of music somewhat influenced by Poole's fascination
with African music strengthened by his two year stay in Kenya. I enjoyed
it enormously and I sincerely hope that others will do so too. Anthony Gilbert's
String Quartet No. 3 (super hoqueto David/Machaut) is a fairly short
piece packed with invention, imagination and energy. "The form is simple
: Trope - ornamented text - trope - text, the forms and the material for
the tropes being drawn from aspects of the original" (Anthony Gilbert): a
most engaging work.
This is a most welcome release which provides for a fine survey of some recent
string quartets, some of which are quite substantial works likely to appeal
to all those who enjoy the warm lyricism deployed by the various composers
featured in this collection. The performances by the Lindsays [Casken], the
Coull Quartet [Ellis], the Camerata Ensemble [Malone, Walker] and the Nossek
Quartet [Gilbert], mostly BBC broadcasts of live performances are all generally
very fine and I urge anyone to get this CD which I unreservedly recommend.
Reviewer
Hubert Culot
