Cello Quartet – Original Works
Rudolf MATZ (1901 – 1988)
Introduzione e Scherzo [3:05]
Domenico LABOCETTA (1823 – 1896)
Adagio [5:05]
Georg GOLTERMAN (1824 – 1898)
Romance [3:37]
Guillaume PAQUE (1825 – 1876)
Souvenir de Curis [3:57]
Michel CORRETTE (1709 – 1795)
Le Phénix [9:04]
Friedrich GRÜTZMACHER (1832 – 1903)
Hymnus Op.65 [4:16]
Wilhelm FITZENHAGEN (1848 – 1890)
Ave Maria Op.41 [4:35]
Georg Christoph WAGENSEIL (1715 – 1777)
Sonata in C major [15:08]
Jaume PAHISSA (1880 – 1969)
Dos corals d’enyorament [2:17]
Enric MORERA (1865 – 1942)
Melangia [5:28]
Rogel-Li Huget I TAGELL (1882 – 1956)
Malagueña [4:39]
Pau CASALS (1876 – 1973)
El cant dels ocells [3:24]
Tritton Cello Ensemble (Albert Roman, Wolfgang Lehner, Bongshin Ko, Josep
Bassal)
rec. Foundation Pro Musica e Cultura de Saint Moritz, Switzerland, 7 July
2008 and 22 – 26 November 2009
COLUMNA MÚSICA CM0225 [64:36]
A chamber ensemble of four identical instruments is always something of a
rarity. Nominal saxophone or clarinet quartets are made up of different members
of that instrument’s family. The main issue for composers will always be how
to overcome the issue of all the instruments available occupying the same
range in terms of pitch and timbre. It could be argued however that a cello
quartet is the most viable option since a well played cello is able to perform
comfortably in alt while at the same time the lowest string provides
a deep and comfortable bass on which the music can be constructed. The repertoire
of original compositions for cello quartet is strangely limited with few if
any famous composers tempted by the challenge this combination provides. Yet
think about some instances where a group of cellos dominates. The openings
of both Rossini’s William Tell Overture and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture
are stunning. Then, and probably most famously, the Villa-Lobos Bachianas
Brasileiras No.5 would appear in many people’s ‘Top 100’. I would venture
it is the close-knit lyrical intensity of the cello group in all of those
works that impresses.
So it was with a considerable amount of optimistic expectation that I started
listening to this recital by the Tritton Cello Ensemble. The disc starts arrestingly
and well, a powerfully projected phrase by the unison group over a portentous
pizzicato walking-bass line leads to exactly the kind of closely voiced lyrical
passage described in the famous works above. This forms the very brief Introduzione
of composer Rudolf Matz’s Introduzione e Scherzo – one of four
works on this CD receiving its world premiere recording - that being said
none of the eleven works were previously known to me and only Wagenseil is
a composer I recognised. The scherzo of the Matz work is all scurrying semiquavers
over more pizzicati and immediately concerns arise. My listening notes use
the word effortful repeatedly. Having no access to scores for any of the works
on the disc I cannot speculate on the composer’s instructions to the players.
But my sense is that this scherzo would benefit from a Mendelssohnian lightness
to which a dose of 20th century malice is added. Instead we get
a performance where every barline is accented as though the ensemble is struggling
to hold it all together. This is not helped by the close recording which makes
for a rather oppressive listening experience. None of the four members of
the ensemble are known to me and it is not clear who is playing the upper
part. Clearly they are all good players but the lead player does suffer from
a performance style which I can only characterise as less than serene. You
can hear what I mean 45 seconds into track 2 – Adagio by Domenico Laboccetta;
the lead player seems to be trying to move the tempo forward – nothing wrong
with that – except that in this instance his insistence on such a movement
results in wayward ensemble and more pushing accents in the upper line destroying
the implicit lyrical flow.
Much of the music that is performed here was written, as explained in the
liner-notes, for teaching purposes. As such it has an appealing easy lyricism
but it does depend heavily on the singing quality of the melodic line with
the other parts providing essentially simple accompaniments. The 19th
century works are pleasant without being particularly memorable although I
suspect that in more sensitive hands they would make a greater impact. The
two Baroque sonatas both make more of the duetting possibilities of the instruments.
I enjoyed reading in the liner-notes of composer Michel Corrette’s predilection
for plagiarism including a Laudate Dominum which is apparently a straight
lift of Vivaldi’s Spring with words added! The Corrette work here,
Le Phénix, is of real interest because it appears to be the first original
published work for four cellos. That aside I hear none of the anticipations
of Classicism claimed for it in the liner-notes. In fact, far from it, this
sounds like an archetypal Baroque sonata/concerto and very enjoyable as such.
Performance-wise it sits in a very safe middle ground but I would have to
say I feel tempi suffer from a certain leaden four-squareness in the outer
movements. Musically the highlight is the central Adagio but again
the playing does not maximise the simple purity of the writing.
The same applies for much of the rest of the disc, both music and performances
failing to take wing. Part of this is due to the moderate to slow tempi of
the bulk of the programme which gives it a certain ‘easy-listening’ character.
The penultimate track - a Malagueña - injects a little Ritual Fire
Dance-like energy but again with a sense of the various elements of the
groups not quite pulling as one. The CD is completed by one of my bug-bears
- a “bonus” track. Does this mean copies of this CD exist without this track?
– no, of course not, so therefore it is not a bonus. In this situation it
is simply because this is an arrangement not an original work.
I have deliberately left one of the extraordinary elements of this disc until
late in the review because I did not realise it myself on first or indeed
any listening. The instruments used in the recording consist of three Stradivari
and one Gagliano. Given that many consider Stradivarius’ perfection of the
‘standard’ cello more significant than his work on violin and that there are
only just over sixty Strad cellos in existence, gathering 5% of the total
in one place for one recording is remarkable. But I would have to say I had
no inkling at all of the quality of the instruments on display on this disc.
A baffling conclusion to an ultimately disappointing disc.
Nick Barnard