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Note the key of all
three works. This is the Busch Quartet
in E flat, as it were, recorded in America
in 1941 and 1942. They had escaped from
Europe by various means and reassembled
in 1940. Not only does this programme
make for consonance in matters of key
but also it produces balanced listening
and gives one the opportunity to savour
the contribution of Busch’s son-in-law,
Rudolf Serkin, in the outstanding performance
of the Schumann Quintet.
Given the quartet’s
significant profile in classical repertoire
one would expect the Mozart to be convincing
and generally it is. The slow movement
is taken at a good flowing tempo and
the finale is buoyant. But the opening
movement tends toward sticky portamenti
at the start and a rather perfumed degree
of phrasing as well. The Dvořák
Op. 51 is the only quartet of his that
they recorded. Busch has a high reputation
in some quarters as a Dvořákian
and the surviving broadcast of his Violin
Concerto performance showed a fine if
not comprehensively convincing exponent.
The Quartet receives a really
fresh reading with pliant accents and
flecked with individual shards of colour
from all four players – lively, rhythmically
acute playing. The Schumann had its
contemporary competition. Schnabel recorded
it with the Pro Arte in an occasionally
disappointing reading whereas Sanroma
and the Primrose Quartet took things
to a sleeker extreme. Serkin and the
Busch strike the right balance between
visceral drive and reflective intimacy.
There is power in the Allegro Brilliante
and subtle hints of unease in the second
movement written in the form of an insistent
march – Karl Doktor, the violist, being
especially expressive here. The fugal
section of the finale is splendidly
executed and Serkin plays with incision
and architectural nuance.
The Schumann is available
on Pearl where it’s coupled with the
Op. 34 Brahms Quintet. Biddulph’s transfer
is marginally quieter but you should
certainly seek out the Brahms performance
if you don’t already have it. Otherwise
this collection very usefully collates
Busch performances that have tended
to be a little overlooked, in transfers
that are sympathetic and attractive.
Jonathan Woolf
The Busch String Quartet 
