I bought second-hand
miniature scores of Stanford’s first
two string quartets in 1971 and 1974
respectively, so it’s nice to be able
actually to listen to them at last!
I have, however, already offered a quite
detailed analysis of aspects of these
works in an article, "Stanford’s
Couples", originally published
in the BMS News but now available on
this site , so I will repeat here
only my conclusion that the two works
seem designed to show the two different
aspects of Stanford’s personality, the
classical and the romantic.
I would like to point
out to prospective buyers that acquiring
Stanford’s first two string quartets
is a very different matter to purchasing
his first two symphonies. The usually
intrepid Stanford held the string quartet
in considerable reverence and by the
time he took the plunge he had already
penned four symphonies, three concertos,
three operas and two oratorios, not
to speak of numerous smaller pieces
and several chamber works. The first
two quartets, then, are fully mature
products.
Though a large number
of important works by Stanford remain
unavailable, as it happens all but one
of the chamber works preceding the first
two quartets (excepting an early piano
trio which is not known to have survived)
are now on record, some in more than
one version, and namely:
Cello Sonata no.1 op.9 (1877): Moncrieff-Kelly/Howell,
Meridian review
Violin Sonata no.1 op.11 (c.1876-7):
Barritt/Edwards, Hyperion, review
also a version by Suzanne Stanzeleit
which I haven’t heard review
Three Intermezzi for clarinet and piano
op.13 (1879): Johnson/Martineau, ASV
and at least one previous version
Piano Quartet no.1 op.15 (1879): Pirasti
Trio, Dukes, ASV review
Piano Quintet op.23 (1886): no recording
Piano Trio no.1 op.35 (1889): Pirasti
Trio, ASV review
Cello Sonata no.2 op.39 (1889): J. Lloyd
Webber/McCabe, ASV; Moncrieff Kelly/Howell,
Meridian review
Reviews of most of
these can be found on the site.
Now that I have actually
heard this music, I am happy to report
that it wears its erudition lightly,
thanks to Stanford’s well-spaced writing
which always produces a luminous and
lyrical effect even when it may look
dense on paper. The spare fugal writing
which opens no.2, for example, proves
to have a mistily evocative poetic quality
which looks ahead to another magical
passage in A minor, the opening section
of the Fourth Irish Rhapsody. Rarely
did Stanford’s classical aspirations
wed his love of melody more happily,
resulting in works which have a pithy
concentration which eludes even the
best of the symphonies. Though I still
stand by my view that the second is
the finer, since its content is remarkably
wide-ranging, I am inclined now to rate
both of them as masterpieces, and not
just in a British context.
One movement which
particularly intrigues me is the "Poco
allegro e grazioso" of no.1, which
Jeremy Dibble’s generally splendidly
informative notes describe as a "Scherzo";
surely the tempo marking suggests a
Brahmsian Intermezzo, and that is how
the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet interpret
it. This could be Stanford’s "Valse
Triste", for its restless modulations
and intrusive chromaticisms create a
distinctly unsettling effect; they go
beyond Brahms to hint at Max Reger and
must surely have sounded surprisingly
modern in their day.
The "Andante espressivo"
of no.2 was once set as a harmony exercise
in a B.Mus exam at Edinburgh University
(the students were given a few bars
complete and then only the first violin
part). I well remember arriving for
a tutorial with Kenneth Leighton who
had just gone through the ordeal of
correcting the students’ exam papers
and was now investigating the original.
He was aware of my interest in Stanford
and confessed amazement at the quality
of this piece, as well as at its many
proto-Elgarian twists of harmony. He
also felt it had been a mistake to set
it since it simply could not be resolved
by treating it as Brahms and really
required a knowledge of the music’s
own style; he wondered if Stanford would
eventually have a greater role in future
teaching programmes.
Completing the disc
is Stanford’s last original chamber
work (a few arrangements of Irish melodies
for violin and piano followed in 1923).
The composer’s last years are sometimes
seen as a decline and it is true that
he sometimes returned a little automatically
to fields he knew all too well how to
plough (church music and Irish songs,
for example), but the opportunity to
do something new could still set his
genius afire, as happened with the Concert
Piece for Organ, Strings, Brass and
Timpani (available on Chandos) and the
two Fantasies for Clarinet and String
Quartet (recorded by Thea King on Hyperion).
The opening of the Horn Fantasy is quite
breathtakingly wonderful, with the jagged
rhythms flashing across the scene and
the horn rising from the depths of the
texture. Later it relaxes into a valedictory
mood, though at the end the composer
bows out quixotically. Stanford would
have vented all his caustic wit on me
for the comparison, but I couldn’t help
thinking of Richard Strauss’s late works
in which nostalgia and a final leave-taking
mingle with a still questing spirit.
The RTÉ Vanbrugh
Quartet distinguish cunningly between
the Olympian classicism of the First
Quartet, the more romantically varied
Second Quartet and the pure lyricism
of the Fantasy, in which we can also
enjoy some rich-toned horn playing.
The recording was produced by Andrew
Keener and is fully up to his own and
Hyperion’s high standards.
I hope this disc will
not only be heard by aficionados of
British music. If your collection already
contains the quartets of Brahms, Dvořák
and Tchaikovsky, you will enjoy getting
to know these fine works. Recommended
with all possible enthusiasm.
Christopher Howell
RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, with Stephen Stirling
(horn)* 
