Now in his mid-forties,
Piet Swerts is a versatile musician
and prolific composer with a considerable
output to his credit. This includes
many piano pieces, several concertos
(five for piano, two for violin, one
for guitar, one for saxophone, one for
clarinet and one for cello), two symphonies
(1990 and 1997), two string quartets
(1991 and 1998), a large-scale St.
Mark Passion (1988/9)
and an opera Les liaisons dangereuses
(1994/6). His second piano concerto
Rotations was the test
piece for the finals of the Queen Elizabeth
Competition in 1986 whereas his violin
concerto Zodiac, awarded
the first prize of the QEC for composition,
was the test piece for the finals of
the QEC in 1992.
As amply demonstrated
by the two chamber works recorded in
this recent Phaedra release, his music
is characterised by a remarkable formal
and instrumental mastery as well as
by a great expressive strength. Here
is a composer who has things to say
and who knows how to say them, regardless
of any current trends and fashions.
The String Quartet
No.2 is one of the first works
written after the hard work on the opera
Les liaisons dangereuses,
the troubled production of which "had
left its traces" (the composer’s
words). The Second String Quartet is
a substantial work in four movements;
and its emotional weight lies in the
long slow movement. The piece opens
with a short prelude in two parts, i.e.
a slow intense introduction (Grave)
leading into an Allegro con sarcasmo
somewhat redolent of Shostakovich. This
is followed by a lively Scherzo (Canzone
di gioia) with a slower, more
lyrical trio. The slow movement (Canto
funebre) depicts a bleak and desolate
‘landscape of the mind’ ending with
an abrupt fit of anger leading straight
into the furious Finale (La violenza)
in which the heavily hammered chords
heard at the end of the preceding movement
help sustain the rough energy displayed
in the concluding movement. The Second
String Quartet is probably one of Swerts’
most intensely personal works, and contains
some of the finest music he has penned
so far. The composer admits that "(the
Second String Quartet) reflects the
inner life of the composer at the time
of its composition" (which may
of course be said of many pieces of
music). The composer does not offer
any further clue but the music speaks
for itself in abstract, universal terms.
We can easily imagine the composer reflecting
on our troubled world with some bitterness
and disillusion.
In writing his Clarinet
Quintet, Swerts wanted to compose
a more lyrical work than his somewhat
earlier Clarinet Concerto
(1997). The quintet is thus devised
as a suite in five contrasted movements
of which the fifth (Rondo) was written
first. The fourth (Elegia) is
more substantial and, again, the emotional
core of the piece. The Clarinet Quintet
is lighter in mood than the Second String
Quartet and does not exclude humour,
as in the Scherzo that clearly alludes
to Johann Strauss. The opening Serenata
is "cinematic, sometimes desolate,
sometimes acrimonious like Shostakovich".
The music often has bittersweet overtones.
The following Notturno is a beautiful,
tranquil reverie. As already mentioned,
the whimsical Scherzo alludes to waltz
rhythms and briefly quotes Johann Strauss;
echoes here of grotesque scherzos à
la Shostakovich. The Elegia
is in complete contrast; and, like the
earlier Notturno, is another
fine example of Swerts’ natural lyricism,
although the Elegia is tenser
and more desolate. The accumulated tension
is finally released in the high spirits
of the concluding, virtuosic and brilliant
Rondo.
Both pieces receive
polished and dedicated performances.
The young ladies of the Tempera Quartet
support Roeland Hendrikx’s immaculate
playing with aplomb and conviction,
whereas the Spiegel Quartet obviously
have the full measure of the emotionally
complex Second String Quartet. Wholeheartedly
recommended.
Hubert Culot
Roeland Hendrikx (clarinet)a; Tempera
String Quarteta; Spiegel String Quartetb
for
details
