Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Six String Quartets,
Op.20
No.1 in E flat major [25:19]
No.2 in C major [23:06]
No.3 in G minor [25:49]
No.4 in D major [29:21]
No.5 in F minor [25:29]
No.6 in A major [20:24]
Doric String Quartet (Alex Redington (violin); Jonathan Stone (violin);
Hélène Clément (viola); John Myerscough (cello))
rec. Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, UK, 7-9 October 2013 and 2-4 December
2013.
CHANDOS CHAN10831(2) [74:32+75:32]
In 1772 the forty year old Haydn composed the world’s
first true string quartets, this set of six Op. 20. There had been quartets
before, by Haydn and others, but these are the ones where we first hear
throughout the essential quality of a “conversation between four intelligent
people” as Goethe put it, rather than a work dominated by the first violin.
The range of expression across the six works, and the innovative textures,
are unprecedented. Donald Tovey wrote of these works “ With Op.20 the
historical development of Haydn’s quartets reaches its goal … and no later
set of six quartets, not even Op.76, is … so uniformly weighty and so varied
in substance as Op.20.” These works are thus a milestone in music history,
much more significant — and more consistently superb — than say Beethoven’s
Op.18 set, which seems to be played and recorded more often. Hence it is a
major task for young players to record them, and the Doric Quartet here
rises triumphantly to the challenge. The disc cover has a discreet “volume
1” in the corner, so presumably this is the beginning of a complete cycle of
Haydn quartets.
The Doric Quartet is still sometimes referred to as if it is a relative
newcomer, but it was formed in 1998, won international prizes in 2008 and
has been recording for Chandos since 2010. Many of its previous
highly-praised Chandos discs (Schubert;
Korngold;
Korngold;
Schumann;
Schumann;
Walton;
Chausson) have a cover photo showing four young men in suits and ties,
but this one has a new look - three jacketless men in open-necked white
shirts, and a woman, the viola player Hélène Clément. The still photos and
the videos on their official
website show only this new line-up now, and it seems on this evidence
that the show goes on as far as quality is concerned. The excellent new
violist has apparently blended in very well (‘blend’ being le mot juste
for a quartet), and the widely admired characteristics of the Doric’s
playing are on abundant display here.
The opening Allegro Moderato of Op.20/1 immediately shows off both
the new Haydn quartet manner and the old Doric qualities. The very look of
the music on the page suggests the independence of each part, with a
frequently shifting and inventive quartet texture but using very few melodic
elements. Hans Keller’s great book on the Haydn quartets points to the
movement’s “unprecedented motivic economy” and the “intense thematicism of
the entire movement”. In this movement we have the
Haydn paradox – he is often claimed to be an intellectual or cerebral
composer but the result is often easy-going, even light-hearted and
engaging. The Doric gets this paradox just right, revealing the
compositional sophistication without jeopardising the genial buttonholing
mood. They close the quartet very effectively too, as although the scuttling
presto finale is mostly piano, they manage also to observe the
decrescendo and diminuendo markings without sounding fussy.
The second quartet of the set, in C major, has an adagio marking
for the C minor slow movement, and the Doric gets the tempo – and the
feeling - about right. The opening unison registers firmly without being too
fierce or quasi-orchestral, and the ensuing long cantilena unfolds with the
right degree of aria-like expressiveness and flexibility from the leader.
The vibrato is kept to a minimum not just here but in general throughout the
six works, which gives something of a ‘period’ feel even without period
instruments.
The three fugal finales, in quartets 2, 5 and 6, are a famous feature of Op.
20, not least for each being marked to be played quietly almost throughout –
“sempre sotto voce”. This was contrary to the usual practice of the
day, and as well as imparting a fleeting evanescent quality it encourages
close listening, especially in the final fugue of number 2 which has four
subjects (“Fuga a quattro soggetti”). The Doric dispatch these
exhilarating finales with virtuoso impetus and a keen response to the
constantly shifting polyphonic texture.
The F minor number 5 is one work in the opus that is sometimes anthologized
in selections of ‘great Haydn quartets’ (like the Emerson Quartet’s ‘The
Haydn Project’ discs on
Deutsche Grammophon) and here we can see why. The Doric bring out its
searching, almost tragic nature, especially in the wonderful first movement
which at 11:14 is the longest of the whole set. In the Doric’s hands the
opening is a brooding almost proto-romantic statement, and that conception
is illustrated by their approach to dynamics. When they return to the
opening upon repeating the exposition they replace the marked piano
with a definite mezzoforte – which has its own emotional logic,
emphasizing a certain implacable quality in the music.
Overall these are interpretations with a strong profile – the music always
provokes a response from the players, beyond the mere presentation of what
is in the score. The Doric can even be dramatic, as if aware that this is
the period of Sturm und Drang (“storm and stress”) and the
remarkable year of Haydn’s splendid symphonies numbers 45-47. They do not
assume that this music can somehow play itself if one just attends to the
score. Not everyone approves of this – BBC Music Magazine, while generally
admiring, refers to an “over-expressive approach”. Conversely, Harriet Smith
on the BBC’s CD Review broadcast lauded that very freedom and
expressiveness, finding now that some admired predecessors to the Doric can
sound a bit too “well-mannered”.
For me such music should be strongly characterized, even if that involves
some risk-taking in tempi, longer pauses, stronger attacks, and altered
dynamics. So I can certainly enthuse about this release to those not already
wedded to another recording, or to a strict period instrument approach or a
more elegant and bewigged style. The 2011 London Haydn Quartet on
Hyperion, and the much older Quatuor Mosaïques now on Naive (a 1993
Gramophone award-winner), still have many admirers and are easily available
and inexpensive. Whenever I want to hear something from Op. 20, I shall
probably now alternate between this new Doric issue and the Mosaïques – but
surely every lover of chamber music should have at least one recording of
these wonderful pieces.
Roy Westbrook
