This disc, from the selective but limited range of the top
ranking audio company, Naim, is most notable and worthy of purchase for
its inclusion of the first string quartet of a young British composer,
Philip Gates. This work takes its inspiration from the lyricism and, in
Gates' words, the "powerful nostalgia" of Celtic poetry. It probably belongs
more to the sound world of the early twentieth century than anything more
recent. Lovers of works in this medium by the likes of Moeran, Bax, Vaughan
Williams and, further afield, the quartets of Ravel and Debussy, and the
early forays in the genre of Milhaud, Martinů
and Ives (as well as the later ones of Dvořák), will surely respond
to this music. It is primarily folk based with modal and pentatonic writing
to the fore. The intensely yearning, extended central Lento
impresses the most but the faster, more dance-like outer movements certainly
have their moments and plenty of them.
The Gates is a remarkable work and the CD is worth
its price for that alone. It does however have to be conceded that the
other pieces on the disc are not necessarily first choice versions.
The Bridge pieces, in particular, including the Three Idylls, the
second of which gave rise to the main motif in Benjamin Britten’s brilliant
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, seem better served on
the bargain price but artistically excellent Maggini/Naxos disc (8.553718).
Unusually, the Idylls are taken slightly more quickly by the
Eberle than the Maggini but the Novelletten are played slower
by comparison. Both sets are worth hearing but I feel that the Maggini
has the edge in this repertoire. In either case, they represent a fairly
easy introduction to Bridge's often challenging and certainly formidable
chamber music. The Barber quartet is well worth hearing in its own right
but has the added interest of allowing comparison of the famous Adagio
for Strings with its original but less familiar setting, "framed
by a fast movement and a drastically condensed reprise".
The recording is of the standard you would expect from
this source and the booklet is extremely informative about the Bridge
and Barber items, a little less so for Gates. It includes quotes from,
among others, Benjamin Britten and Anthony Payne (Bridge's biographer).
In conclusion, this is an interesting disc and an essential one for
anyone who wishes that composers like Moeran had written more music
for string quartet.
Neil Horner
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