Gramophone – September 2019

114 GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 gramophone.co.uk

H

owtobeginwithBoccherini?

Sure,theBrilliantClassicsbox

nestlesonmyshelf,all 37 discs

ofit,enclosingafairrepresentationofhis

chamberoutputandasmatteringofvocal

musicinrespectable–useful,tobemore

blunt–period-styleperformances.The

music’spersonalityremainselusive.Where

todroptheneedleonallthosequartets

andquintets?

TheNewMusicStringQuartetcouldhave

putmerightlongago,hadIknownmore

ofthemthantheirunpromisinglyplain

nameuntilthisbeautifullyremasteredand

presentedcollectionoftheirColumbia

recordings.Perhapsthesecrettothese

vitallyengagingperformancesliesinthat

name:playedasiftheyreallyhadbeen

writtenyesterday,Boccherini’squartets

comeoffthepageasmorethanamissing

linkbetweenVivaldiandHaydn.Andthe

fourexamplesherearesovariousinstyle

andambition.Op 58 No 2 openswith

twogracefuldancemovementsbefore

aLarghettomalincolinoofinconsolable

pathos.Setinswayingmotionbya

Spanish-inflectedbassline,Op 2 No 2

buildstowardsatightlystitchedfugue.

TheBminorOp 58 No 4 openswitha

hot-tempereddeclamationthatwould

notdisgraceBeethoven’sOp 18 set.

LikeScarlattiathiskeyboardorHaydn

athisdesk,Boccheriniseems(inthese

performances)toreinventhimselffrom

scratchwitheachquartet.

Theboxispackedwithdiscoveriesout

ofallproportiontoitsmodestsize,andthe

hit-ratemaybeattributedtoacombination

ofastuteA&RonthepartofColumbia

andtheambitionsoffouryoungAmerican

musicians,verymuchledfromthefront

byBroadusErle‘withmorethanatouch

ofgenius’,asTullyPotterputsitinhis

invaluablebookletessay.Erleitwaswho

foundedtheNMSQin 1945 andthree

yearslatergatheredthecolleagueswho

ioneering quartets from ew York

REISSUES & ARCHIVE

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theirmusic,

undertheir

supervision,and

theresultsare

distinguished

byatechnical

assurance

borneofErle’s

insistenceon

painstaking

rehearsal,yielding

performancesofunimpeachableauthority

aswellasrealpassion.

Itisinspiringtohearanewhowmuch

thelegacyoftherecentlylateSchoenberg

meanttothenextgenerationofcomposers.

Riegger’sSecondQuartetisanundoubted

highlight,unfoldinglucidlyfromaunison

atonalmelodyandwithaDebussian

sensitivitytoinstrumentaltextures.Jerome

Rosen’sFirstisatoughernuttocrack,

demandingthekindof‘earnestlistener’

requestedbyPaulFrommontheoriginal

sleeve,butrewardingthemwithakind

offiercerhapsody,enclosingastilland

pensiveLentotranquillo–andtheplaying is

beautifullytranquileveniftheexpression is

troubled–androundingoffwithtwisted,

Bartókiancounterpointofcompelling

gritanddetermination.TheNMSQ

makewarmandyieldingaccompaniststo

JennieTourelintheStabatmater(setting

aFrenchtextbyMaxJacob)byThomson,

whoalsochairedtheselectioncommittee

fortheseries.Acompletereissueofits

work–nevermadeavailableonCD–

wouldbeashearteningandinstructiveas it

isunlikely.Onitsownterms,however,this

tributetotheNMSQisanindispensable

acquisitionforanyoneinterestedinnew

music,orindeedstringquartets.

madetheserecordingsinNewYorkwithin

thebriefspanof1949-56,beforelackofa

permanentresidencycausedthegroupto

disband.TheviolaplayerWalterTrampler

surelyhitthenailonthehead:‘Someof

ourbestengagementscameaboutonly

becausethesponsorsweresophisticated

enoughtoknowthatwewouldplayonly

onecontemporarypieceonaprogramme.’

Withoutthebenefitoflivebroadcasts,

it’shardtosayhowtheNMSQsounded

outsidetheairlessacousticofColumbia’s

30thStStudio,buttheyrecordedwell.

Erle’sbrightandforwardlyprojected

toneiswellbalancedinthemix,with

plentyofroomforTramplerandsecond

violinistMatthewRaimonditomake

tellingcontributionstofouroftheteenage

Mozart’s‘Milanese’quartets,K155-158.

Thetwoalbumsmostcloselyresembling

standardrepertoirecontainMendelssohn

(Op 13 andOp 44 No3)andSchumann

(Op 41 Nos 2 and3),andthesetooare

donewithanurgent,grippingsense

ofhowthemusiclookedfreshonthe

page,nostylisticconventionstakenfor

granted,analogoustotheapproachof

contemporary-specialistconductorssuch

asLeibowitz,ScherchenandMaderna

whentheyaddressedthemselvestoold

music.Thenthere’sanotherrarity,the

45-minuteepicwrittenbythe18-year-

oldHugoWolf,inwhichtheNewMusic

groupoutstripeventheLaSalleQuartetfor

stridentandardentexpressioninrealising

thework’suniqueBruckner-meets-

Schoenbergsoundworld.

Whichbringsustotherecording

projectthatmadetheNMSQ’sreputation,

theModernAmericanMusicSeries

supportedbyColumbiaandtheFromm

MusicFoundationinanactofpatriotic

philanthropyalmostunimaginable

today.ItwascomposerssuchasVirgil

Thomson,RogerSessionsandWallingford

Rieggerwhochosethequartettorecord

Peter Quantrill rediscovers a quartet who played the old as well as the new

THE RECORDING

New Music String Quartet Complete

Columbia Album Collection

Sony Classical S j 19075 925432