Johann Baptist VANHAL (1739-1813)
String Quartet in C minor, Op.1 No.4, Weinmann 5a: c2 (1769) [15:35]
String Quartet in G major, Weinmann 5a: G8 (1780) [19:49]
String Quartet in A major, Op.33 No.2, Weinmann 5a: A4 (1785) [24:34]
String Quartet in E flat major, Weinmann 5a: ES11 (1786) [18:13]
Lotus Quartet
rec. 2009, Kammermusikstudio, SWR Stuttgart
CPO 777475-2 [78:34]
Even in an age of prolific composers Vanhal (or Vaňhal,
Wanhal, Vanhall even Van Hal) stands tall. Scholar Paul Bryan reckons his
compositions number some 1,377 works – which includes 100 or so string
quartets and at least 76 symphonies. Then we move on to the masses, smaller
sacred settings and so on and on. This would be a footnote in musical history
were it not for the fact that many of his works have real substance, something
Charles Burney noted in 1772 when he wrote that the Bohemian’s symphonies
were ‘among the most complete and perfect compositions, from many instruments,
that the art of music can boast’.
His misfortune, obviously, if crudely, can be summed up in one word: Haydn.
Yet before the rise of Haydn and Mozart Vanhal’s symphonies and chamber
works were amongst the most popular in German-speaking lands, and though Haydn
was seven years older than Vanhal, the younger man contributed much, and earlier,
to both genres.
The four string quartets selected for recording by the Lotus Quartet are particularly
revealing examples of the progress made in the genre from the slightly uncertain
‘Quatuor concertant’ appellation originally given to the Op.1
No.4 to the more confident establishment of the String Quartet as an independent
genre a mere few years later. That early quartet, in C minor, published in
1769 shows an already consolidated four-movement form. Sonata form is followed
and opportunities for cantilena for the first violin in the slow movement
afford lyric intensity – Sachiko Kobayashi bows here with refined weight
– over broken pizzicati. Vanhal isn’t afraid of a long development
section as the finale of this highly auspicious quartet illustrates.
The G major, dating from 1780 wasn’t published during his lifetime.
Originally referred to as a Divertimento – another example of the tangled
evolution of the quartet – it is fresh, well-structured and with a movement
described as two Arias (and which sound anything but) though they are notable
for the irregular phraseology. By the time of the last two quartets here,
dating from the years 1785-86, we have moved into what one has to refer to
as the Classical period of Vanhal’s output. He is an exceptionally communicative
composer, with a real fluency when it comes to sonata form and the employment
of minuets and trios. There are plenty of embellishments in the slow movement
of the A major and a fine cadenza. The Rondo finale is sparkling – plenty
of incidents and some virtuosic runs for the cello. The E flat major, released
in instalments, is the only three-movement quartet here and if parts are a
little more conventional than elsewhere in his quartet writing there is no
loss of wit and elegance.
Bert Hagels’ notes set the scene admirably.
The performances are stylistically splendidly apt. There are Haydnesque affiliations
and some passages may sound like forerunning Mozart. However the Lotus Quartet
is alert to the dangers of drifting too near these great contemporaries. Their
ensemble sound is deft, quite light, but delightfully aerated. Textures are
clean, phrasing beautiful. There’s recording quality to match.
Jonathan Woolf
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