Erwin Schulhoff’s music for string quartet is built on forceful
rhythms and startling juxtapositions of material; it dances, yes,
but with fiery intensity and rough humor. His style is the polar
opposite of works like Tchaikovsky’s First Quartet or Borodin’s
Second; in the most famous moments of those quartets, the
four players sing together with one voice, melodies flowing naturally
along in seamless harmony. Schulhoff’s model is a radically different
one: here the interplay between instruments sounds not like a
romance but like a brilliantly choreographed action-film fight
scene, the players darting and weaving about each other, poised
and ready to strike.
The
First String Quartet comprises three studies in rhythm
followed by an agonized slow movement. The first movement
is jaunty and refreshingly melodic, with echoes of Stravinsky
in an ebullient mood. The second movement is more menacing,
the central section’s thematic material given slithering accompaniment,
but it is the slow movement, which serves as the quartet’s
finale, that acts as this work’s emotional core.
Of
the three works on the disc, the First Quartet was
most successful during Schulhoff’s lifetime, and its appeal
is immediate. This is an engaging and rewarding piece waiting
for a concert-hall revival, and, since it is a scant seventeen
minutes, the quartet could safely be squeezed onto many a
recital program.
The
Five Pieces are a suite of dance movements which seem
straightforward: a Viennese waltz, a serenade and a tango
are among their number. But these works are not for the faint
of heart; they are traditional dances viewed through the prism
of Stravinsky or, perhaps, Schoenberg, and, like Ravel’s La
Valse but with more of a bite, they are probably meant
to some degree to be satirical. The waltz is almost unrecognizable
as such in the opening bars, but soon becomes irresistible;
the other dances are similarly magnetic. The tarantella is
a good example: relatively straightforward in form, the harmonies
nevertheless make us feel as if we are in the musical equivalent
of a house of mirrors.
The
Second String Quartet, composed just a year after the
First in 1925, is arguably a masterpiece. The first
movement finds Schulhoff’s tense style slightly matured, and
the slow theme and variations begin with a beautiful viola
solo. The highlight of the variations is an amiable folksy
dance beginning at roughly the three-minute mark; another
intriguing dance, with the unique marking “Allegro gajo,”
follows in the third movement, but the finale is a fierce,
very modern battle with some of the most thrilling unison
playing on the album.
Fortunately
for Schulhoff’s legacy, these are terrific performances. The
Aviv Quartet have been playing together for a decade now,
since they inaugurated their career amid a flurry of international
competition victories in 1999, and they sound simply fantastic
on this disc. The playing is electric; no position is a weak
link. Schulhoff’s music for string quartet has been assembled
on another disc, a 1994 Capriccio release, but this Naxos
album is more widely available, and at half the price. Neither
represents the complete quartet music (a Divertimento
has gone unrecorded), but only completists will really be
bothered by this quibble.
A
terrific introduction to Schulhoff’s chamber music, then,
although there are other works (like the surprising Concertino
for Flute, Viola and Double Bass) which are more immediately
appealing, and although other albums may simply have more
music (this one is barely fifty minutes long). But this recording
will be an eye-opener for those who prefer their string quartets
to be perfume-soaked romantic treasures, and a treasure for
admirers of modern chamber music. A good way to expand one’s
horizons.
As
a part of the Naxos Digital imprint, this album is currently only
available for download at the website Classicsonline, where it
sells for rather less than the price of a physical compact disc.
Brian
Reinhart
