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Peter MAXWELL
DAVIES (b. 1934) Naxos Quartets
String Quartet No. 5, Lighthouses of Orkney and Shetland (2004)
[20:32];
String Quartet No. 6 (2004/5) [35:07]
Maggini
Quartet (Laurence Jackson, David Angel (violins); Martin
Outram (viola);
Michal Kaznowski (cello)).
rec. Potton Hall, Suffolk, 26-28 May 2005. DDD NAXOS 8.557398 [55:39]
Grievous
admission, perhaps, but this is my first encounter with the
prestigious series of string quartets Naxos commissioned
from the Master of the Queen's Music. At least that means
that I come to these two works with no preconceived ideas,
except of course that the disc has already been widely reviewed,
notably by two colleagues here on MusicWeb International.
Whether
we like it or not many music lovers remain reluctant to venture
very far into contemporary music – taking "contemporary" to
mean anything after Mahler – and Naxos is to be congratulated
on this brave initiative. I believe many listeners will find
these works difficult at first, but a record such as this
one will surely encourage them to persevere, perhaps even
to be more adventurous and look farther afield.
Quartet
No. 6 plays for almost twice as long as No. 5. The first
of the six movements – so writes the composer in the accompanying
notes – "…is an allegro whose tonality becomes
ever clearer" and whilst it is true that the closing
stages of the movement are more easily assimilated than the
highly dissonant, spiky, Bartókian opening, it remains fairly
challenging all the same. The movement ends inconclusively,
leading to the short, pizzicato scherzo which follows.
The following movement is also a scherzo, with fragments
of melody tossed about between the instruments, one in particular,
a rhythmic, dance-like figure. The trio section is like a
slow dance, over held notes. "The return of the scherzo
material is varied" writes the composer, but it would
be instructive to see the score – and not only for this reason – as
I no longer hear the dance-like figure amongst the ghostly, sul
ponticello effects which bring the movement to its close.
The fourth movement is the longest, beginning with a lengthy,
richly scored lyrical passage. A middle section is bitingly
dissonant and a striking passage towards the end involves
four cadenzas, one for each instrument. This is the most
searching movement of the six, and the one which best demonstrates
the link with late Beethoven to which the composer alludes
in his notes, as the music addresses weighty matters after
the manner of a great Beethoven adagio. The fifth
movement, based on a Christmas plainsong – and composed on
Christmas Day: do composers ever take time off? – comes as
gentle relief after such searching intensity. The composer
refers to it as "a simple carol". The astringency
of the opening returns for the finale, building up a good
head of steam before the end which makes dramatic use, as
does the whole quartet, of tremolando writing.
Quartet
No. 5 is a less demanding listen but I wonder if it not more
difficult to discern the composer's aims than in the later
one? Sadly, his notes will be of little help to the average
listener. Of the main section of the first movement he writes "I
have tried to lead the ear through quite complex and constant
transformations in such a way that it remains always clear
how the expansions and contractions of linear contour relate,
and where in our journey we are in relation to the tonic,
and to its dominant and subdominant, or their displaced substitutes." Quite
so, but to what extent a listener unable to read the score
can follow such arguments – and there is more where they
came from – remains to be seen. The actual musical argument
is coherent and logical though, and the variety of sound
and texture the composer draws from the four instruments
is always striking. A listener ready simply to submit to
the music will therefore not need to worry about technical
aspects, rewarding though it might well be to study them
later. In only two movements, the opening sonorities of the
quartet, with much glissando writing, are beguiling.
The second movement is half as long again as the first, and
predominantly slow and meditative. Only to a very limited
extent can I perceive, for the moment, just how it comes
to use "the same material entirely" as the first
movement "and with the same form." Again it is
preferable at this stage simply to allow the music to lead
the ear along. The end of the work, a long diminuendo disappearing
into nothing with glissando and pizzicato,
is particularly affecting, evoking as it does the "sweeping
beam of the North Ronaldsay lighthouse dissolving into the
first light of dawn".
The
performances by the Maggini Quartet are beyond praise and
the recording is immediate and lifelike. The disc is presented
to the usual high Naxos standard, and whilst it is logical
and prestigious that the composer should provide the insert
note I do wish his essay had been more accessible to the
general reader. After three hearings of each quartet I am
still only beginning to get to know and understand them,
but the music is compelling and invites rehearing. My initial
impressions were of music that I would learn to respect rather
than love, but each time I discover moments of beauty that
I hadn't heard before. Those readers still hesitant about "contemporary" music
and ready for a challenge are warmly encouraged to try this
disc.
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