Over the last years,
Schulhoff’s name and music have become
fairly well-known as a result of a considerable
number of recordings from various sources.
However, I have actually heard very
little of it so far that is until I
received this release presenting his
output for string quartet.
The earliest piece
here is the Divertimento,
completed apparently in 1914 when the
composer was twenty. It is cast as a
suite of five very contrasted movements,
of which the second Cavatine
(played muted throughout) is particularly
fine and unconsciously reminiscent of
early Frank Bridge. The following movement,
a ternary Intermezzo, too, brought Frank
Bridge to mind in its outer sections
- viola over pizzicatos played by the
other strings. This is followed by a
warmly lyrical Romance. The Divertimento
opens and concludes with two fast movements,
a lively Lebhaft and a rather
more developed (overlong?) Rondo. This
is actually the longest movement of
the whole work. In this youthful piece,
the music still displays a number of
influences. I mentioned Bridge, but
it does so unconsciously. However one
could also mentioned some older Czech
composers such as Suk and Janáček.
Schulhoff does not slavishly imitate
his models, so that this lively work
clearly points towards some future,
more personal achievement.
In some respects, the
Five Pieces of 1923, also
cast as a suite of contrasted miniatures,
are comparable to the somewhat earlier
Divertimento. Dance-like
rhythms are much to the fore in this
uncomplicated, relaxed piece but the
music often nods towards the French
Les Six; the piece is actually
dedicated to Darius Milhaud. The various
movements of this delightful piece are
not without gentle irony, and are often
spiced by unexpected harmonic and rhythmic
twists. No surprise that this work is
one of Schulhoff’s best-known and best-loved
pieces. I attended a lunchtime concert
in Liège during which the Five
Pieces were played to a mostly
unknowing audience. They had probably
never heard the name Schulhoff, let
alone his music. In fact they ended
up loving the piece on the spot. A most
lovely work.
The String Quartet
No.1 is in four movements with
the slow movement placed last. It is
preceded by three short, fast movements:
an energetic Presto con fuoco,
a rather ghost-like Allegretto con
moto and a lively, dance-like Allegro
giocoso alla Slovacca. All three
are redolent of early Bartók
or Kodaly for their folk-inflected dance
rhythms and tunes. I often thought of
Bartók’s Rumanian Folk
Dances. This compact, but substantial
work concludes with a beautiful Nocturne
which for all its restraint has great
expressive strength. This is a really
fine piece that should definitely be
heard more often.
As far as I can judge,
these performances by the Schulhoff
Quartet are excellent, carefully prepared,
committed and fully convincing, splendidly
bringing off the various facets of Schulhoff’s
music. Very fine recorded sound. Recommended.
Hubert Culot
see also
review by Jonathan Woolf
Schulhoff Quartet (Milan Setena, Michal Kostka,
violins; Filip Waulin, viola; Jonas Krejci,
cello) 
