Philip GLASS (b. 1937)
String Quartet No.2 ‘Company’ (1983) [7:56]
String Quartet No.3 ‘Mishima’ (1985) [17:18]
String Quartet No.1 (1966) [16:33]
String Quartet No.4 ‘Buczak’(1989) [22:29]
Carducci String Quartet
rec. 8-10 December 2008, Holy Innocents Church, Highnam, Gloucestershire,
U.K.
NAXOS 8.559636 [64:16]
With five string quartets to his name, this disc represents the bulk of Philip
Glass’s contribution to the genre. The earliest, String Quartet No.1,
comes from the period just before Glass began exploring what we would recognise
today as ‘true’ minimalism. Aspects of a minimalistic approach
are beginning to crystallise however, related however more to the alternative
scales and cyclical repetitions of Asian music, as well as the restricted
use of material represented by John Cage. The result is a kind of rough-hewn
Morton Feldman in miniature, each segment holding its own ‘universe
in a grain of sand’, but still seeking a truly effective framework on
which to hang and develop the ideas.
In the end, it was as much the framework which became the essence of the music
which Glass was to be creating within a short space of time from the String
Quartet No.1, and with a period working and performing with his own ensemble’s
energetic sound. The programme of this disc opens with the String Quartet
No.2, originally written as a set of four interludes for a stage production
of Samuel Beckett’s poem ‘Company’. The first of these sees
Glass at his most lyrically poignant, with the violin floating its few eloquent
melodic notes over a gently undulating accompaniment. The quartet has a musical
feel which can in general be compared with Glass’s 1983 opera Akhnaten,
the second movement alternating moments of dramatically energetic and quieter
more anticipatory ostinato. The third returns to the feel of the first, with
a more restless feel, building to a brief but heavily portentous climax. The
final movement has similar dynamic contrasts to the second, but mainly projects
a feel of diffuse intensity - a handkerchief waved from the bridge of a diving
submarine, purposeful and lost at the same time.
The String Quartet No. 3 also has extra-musical origins, having been
made for a film about the remarkable Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. The entire
film score included work for full orchestra, but extracting the string quartet
sections to create a concert piece was a logical idea, as these moments went
closest in association with the subject of the film and have their own sense
of unity. The harmonies and character of the movements remind me most of Glass’s
1986 ‘Songs for Liquid Days’ album, though through the familiar
rocking figurations and cyclical patterns the quartet music does have a more
classically bound feel which is only partly to do with the medium. Most inventive
is the third movement, Grandmother and Kimitake, which goes beyond
the expected in both harmonies and rhythm, and much of the rest has a poignant
feel which makes for a soothing and at times moving listening experience.
The longest and latest of the quartets on this disc, and the only one in three
parts, the String Quartet No.4 stands apart from Nos. 2 and 3 in being
a pure concert piece. The work was a commission in memory of artist Brian
Buczak, but the richness of its material and sonorities has less to do with
the New York modern art world than a referring back to the medium of the string
quartet as a carrier of some of Western music’s most serious and expressive
musical statements through history. The first movement has some potent bi-tonal
harmonic effects through Glass’s restless hallmark figurations. The
second movement, one of Glass’s finest, also has some intriguing sonorities,
initially pairing the violins in a lament expressed in octaves, carried by
the viola and cello, also paired in a simple but highly effective ground.
These ideas develop, the violins becoming an equal duetting pair of voices
before the cello is freed to introduce its own melodic character, bringing
along the violin with its song. The final movement returns to more typical
Glass hemiolas and figurations, though again this is filled with affecting
melodic gestures and a finely balanced, sculptural sense of poise.
This release has competition from the complete quartets (1-5) from Paul Smith
Quartet on Signum
Classics and the Kronos Quartet on Nonesuch, though this only deals with
Quartets 2-5. This very fine Naxos disc undercuts both by a considerable price
margin, and is therefore almost an instant recommendation, especially when
you consider the quality of performance and recording on offer. The Carducci
Quartet is clearly an excellent young ensemble. As far as I am concerned they
don’t put a foot wrong in these performances, which are filled with
marvellously expressive phrasing and a keen sense of colour and nuance. If
you like Philip Glass’s mature style then you will find a great deal
to appreciate here. There is a distinct and satisfying lack of pretension,
and none of the ‘hard core’ minimalism which many listeners can
find hard to stomach. With the extra-musical associations many of the pieces
have you can expect a similar sense of atmosphere to, for instance, some of
Michael Nyman’s more gentle later film music style.
Dominy Clements
A very fine disc indeed.
see also review by Nick Barnard