This enterprising disc from Redcliffe Recordings brings together three
generations of British composers and their varied responses to the formidable
challenge of writing for the medium of the string quartet.
The Elgar quartet (1918) is realised with much sensitivity to its ever-changing
moods. The essentially symphonic scale of the outer movements is grasped
by the players whilst the melancholic introspection of the central
Piacevole movement never descends into mawkishness. The edge provided
by long takes in the recording adds to an appropriately restless performance
of what can seem a stodgy and impersonal work in less sympathetic and responsive
hands.
Francis Routh is the guiding spirit behind Redcliffe Recordings and it is
a pleasure to hear one of his own works on this CD. I hope we will hear more
of this composer on future Redcliffe discs (especially his Piano Concerto
and Symphony). The Divertimento was commissioned by the Bochmann Quartet
and composed as recently as 1998. It is a tough but rewarding piece with
a Stravinsky-like bite to its insistent rhythms (the spirit of The Rite of
Spring is invoked in the first movement). Essentially an Introduction, Theme
with 15 Variations and Coda, this work falls into the traditional three movement
pattern since the variations are grouped into sections which correspond to
first movement and scherzo, slow movement and finale. The intellectual rigour
and metric diversity of the outer movements is offset by the inward-looking
Adagio, cast in the form of a Lullaby. An impressive and well-crafted piece,
clearly the well-honed product of a lifetime's composing, Francis Routh's
Divertimento more than holds its own in such illustrious company on this
CD. The work's complexities are not impenetrable and it elicits musicianship
of a high order from the Bochmann Quartet.
The final work on the disc, Alan Rawsthorne's Third Quartet of 1964 is another
complex creation whose rewards are not superficial and begin to emerge only
on further exposure. Inhabiting the same craggy conceptual density of the
Third Symphony written just before this chamber work, Rawsthorne's String
Quartet no 3 makes an impressive conclusion to this most thoughtfully planned
and persuasively played programme. The apotheosis of Rawsthorne's chamber
works, this quartet displays all the many facets of its composer's style
from the serenity of the central chaconne to the virtuosity of the concluding
jig. The Bochmann Quartet point up the diversity of this material whilst
providing a reading of architectural grip and formal logic.
The authoritative notes are provided by Francis Routh himself and John McCabe
and help the first-time listener to penetrate the musical argument of these
three challenging works. The playing throughout the disc is very fine and
all three readings have the feel of live performances (an impression backed
up by the fact that two of the pieces were recorded on sessions lasting only
one day). Lovers of British music need not hesitate whilst others will find
this CD the perfect starting point for an exploration of 20th Century quartet
writing in this country.
Reviewer
Paul Conway
Bochmann String
Quartet
