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
see also review by Nick
Barnard
Carducci String Quartet 
