Elgar’s String
Quartet is one of three substantial chamber works
that he composed during World War I. Here it is by far
the most substantial work in this intriguing release
from a label new to me. I will not, however, dwell too
long on it since it is sufficiently well-known and recorded,
and will rather consider the other works that make for
a nice contrast to Elgar’s masterpiece.
Judith
Weir’s music is now reasonably well represented
on disc; but, curiously enough, her attractive String Quartet composed
in 1990 has never been recorded before. The music is mostly
song-like throughout its three short and concise movements:
actually two songs without words capped by a very short
Presto epilogue. A remarkable feature of this beautiful
work is that the composer dispenses with “new” playing
techniques such as col legno, snap pizzicato and
the like, and successfully uses the strings in the most
traditional manner to achieve her expressive aims. The
music is characteristic of Weir’s thinking, in that it
achieves strong expression within a comparatively short
span of time and by keeping her material strictly under
control. She never tries to make things bigger than they
really are. She goes straight to the point by a tight formal
balance, so that the music never outstays its welcome.
A most welcome addition to her ever-growing discography.
As
far as concision goes, Peter Maxwell Davies’s Little
Quartets are certainly entitled to be counted among
the shortest string quartets ever composed. One might be
tempted to compare them with Webern’s Bagatellen or
Kurtag’s Microludes; but these works do not
aim at competing with either Webern’s or Kurtag’s pieces
in terms of sheer musical weight which these composers achieve
with a minimum of notes. In fact, Davies’ pieces were composed
as occasional works. The Little Quartet No.1 was
for Sir William Glock in memory of his daughter. It is in
three short movements, two slow, mainly elegiac ones framing
a nervous Scherzo. The Little Quartet No.2 was
composed before the first. It was written in 1977 for a festival
in Montepulciano, but was lost in the mail. Ten years later,
the composer rewrote it from sketches. Unlike No.1,
it is in a single movement roughly cast in sonata form with
a slow coda. These two works can hardly be regarded as important
in Davies’ output, but are still well worth hearing, the
more so because they may now be considered as try-outs for
more substantial works. By the time he had composed the two Little Quartets,
PMD could not know that he would embark on his Naxos Quartets
project, now well under way.
World
War I was a traumatic experience for Elgar although he was
too old to take part in the fighting. The Great War signalled
that the world in which he had lived was falling apart and
that things would no longer be as they were. This is strongly
reflected in the nostalgic nature of much of the music of
his String Quartet, although the quartet ends
with an energetic Allegro molto, that Lady Elgar described
as “the galloping of squadrons”, which is probably too far-fetched.
The last movement may certainly not be described as triumphant
or optimistic. The often rugged energy of the music belies
that possibility.
The
Reinhold-Quartet plays beautifully throughout. Their carefully
prepared readings are undoubtedly very fine. I do not know
many versions of the Elgar String Quartet, but I liked what
the Reinhold did with it. A welcome release, this, although
the total playing time is ungenerous.
Hubert Culot
for details
Reinhold-Quartett 
