Mieczyslaw WEINBERG (1919-1996)
String Quartets - Volume 5
String Quartet No. 1 Op. 2/141 (1937 and 1985) [20.56]
Aria Op. 9 (1942) [4.25]; Capriccio Op. 11 (1943) [4.25]
String Quartet No. 3 in D minor Op.. 14 (1943) [20.42]
String Quartet No. 10 Op. 85 in A minor (1964) [24.07]
Quatuor Danel
rec. Studio Stolbergenstrasse, Cologne, June 2007, December 2008, February
2009
CPO 777 566-2 [77.18]
For most composers a 1st String Quartet is
a rite of passage into a vast tradition but it is quite common to find that
the piece may bear little resemblance to the language and style of later works
including other quartets. This is certainly the case with Weinberg’s 1st
which although listed as Op. 2 also has the Op. 141 number as he revised it
substantially in 1985, forty-eight years after its completion. Nevertheless
it remains a curiously eclectic work.
It’s sobering to think that Weinberg could easily have fallen a victim of
the holocaust, as did some of his close relations. Being born a Polish Jew
in 1919, the same year as the ill-fated Gideon Klein, he could disappeared
at any time. Indeed he was arrested in 1953 under Stalin but Shostakovich
took a shine to Weinberg’s 1st Symphony and via a well-timed letter
of commendation had him released. Before that however Weinberg fled his native
country and went into Belarus and later deeper into Russia settling there
for the rest of his long life.
Recordings of his music abound at present and quite rightly too. I first came
across him only recently with Volume 2 of the Quartets. Here I was much taken
with the rather stern Thirteenth Quartet of 1981. It was this work that came
to mind whilst hearing the first movement of the 1st. Nevertheless
this older movement is a rather overwrought as David Fanning’s excellent liner-notes
tell us. Its intense chromaticisms do rather pall after five minutes or so.
I was reminded of Szymanowski at times and even of Shostakovich. However the
muted second movement is hauntingly memorable. One can see why the composer
persisted with revisions to this youthful piece - after all he was only 18
when he originally finished it. The finale is different again being much easier
to assimilate, rather dance-like and what Fanning calls “the most characteristic
of the three” - quite stylistically contrasted. It even establishes a sort
of C major for a great deal of its course.
From just a few years later come the two enchanting miniatures, which end
the CD. Written during the 2nd World War, whilst the composer was
residing in Tashkent, the Aria is a warm-hearted yet nostalgic Larghetto
with a memorable melody accompanied by throbbing chords. The Capriccio,
marked Scherzando con grazia e rubato, is basically a waltz but with
a slightly ghostly middle section which repeats later in 5/8 even 5/16 time.
It reminded me of a Bartók dance movement and is perhaps equally ethnically
inspired.
I’m led to believe that a similar light-hearted view of life is be heard in
the 2nd Quartet of 1943 but this has not as yet emerged in this
CPO series of all 17 Quartets. The 3rd String
Quartet reverts, at least at first, to the intensity of the 1st
but is more focused harmonically and indeed contrapuntally. Fanning talks
of the ‘wiry intensity’ of the first movement. I could also mention the Shostakovich-like
desolation of the second movement. The third is a fascinating and evanescent
dancing piece which just vanishes into thin air. The whole work, which plays
without a break, is well worth getting to know. It represents this prolific
composer’s advertising of his more mature self. I agree with the notes that
Britten is even heard from time to time especially in the middle movement
and in its 5/4 metre.
By 1964 Weinberg was an establishment figure. At least his achievements were
being recognised in his own country. Some have commented that he bowed too
low to the Russian authorities of the time. However, he managed to keep space
for his own development and views despite the rush of film scores he was expected
to churn out. The String Quartet No. 10 is just such a private view.
It was completed just a few weeks after Shostakovich’s Tenth and is also in
four movements. There the similarities end. Weinberg begins with an intense
and moving Adagio and then moves to a fleeting Scherzando
marked Allegro. The tonality is never obvious but neither is it bi-tonal
or overly chromatic. The ensuing Adagio weighs in at less than three
minutes but is weighty and feels imposing and grandiloquent. The Allegretto
which ends the work - there are no breaks between movements - begins as a
fugue. It is introspective and is the longest of the four. Its second subject
is more dance-like with a tune in the viola accompanied by pizzicato violins.
These ideas are reflectively intermixed and the music ends thoughtfully.
There is no reason to think that these performances are not ideal. I have
not heard these works elsewhere but the Quatuor Danel have recorded all five
volumes so far (Vol.
2) so have got to know their Weinberg by now. Each player has impeccable
technique and the ensemble is superb and beautifully balanced. The recording
allows the music to speak and the performers to be at their best. A good place
to start your investigation of a very considerable twentieth century figure.
Gary Higginson
A good place to start your investigation of a very considerable twentieth century figure.