CHARLES STANFORD: String Quintet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 85; Piano Quintet in D Minor, Op. 25 – Piers Lane, piano/RTE Vanbrugh Quartet – Hyperion CDA67505, 64:42 [Distrib. by Harmonia mundi] ****:
The music of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924), like many of his Edwardian contemporaries, owes debts to the influence of Johannes Brahms, and the 1886 Piano Quintet in D Minor provides a classic case in point, the work dedicated to the great exponent of Brahms, Joseph Joachim. Like the Brahms F Minor Piano Quintet, the Stanford spans huge proportions, its first two movements in gloomy minor, the last two in major. The second movement, Scherzo: Allegro ma non troppo, plunges into a demonic, G Minor folk dance or fox hunt in shifty meters. Several plangent passages for viola (Simon Aspell) and piano in the opening movement make for compelling listening, the interplay among the other instruments equally fluent, much in the manner of the German tradition of Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms. The mood of the second reminds me of the equally nervous metrics of the Scherzo in the Brahms Op. 60 Piano Quartet.
After the percussive, jarring effects of the Scherzo–although the Trio clams down into a bucolic meditation that alternates G and B, with undercurrents in viola and cello (Christopher Marwood)–the Adagio expressive in B-flat Major delivers a nocturnal sweetness those who do not know Stanford owe themselves. Moving contrapuntally, the Adagio recalls late Brahms, autumnal, darkly resigned to the irregular canvas of life. The Steinway instrument Piers Lane employs rings out with particular authority over the stinging violin play of Gregory Ellis, the passing, martial content easily reminiscent of the Brahms Op. 25 third movement. The last movement, Allegro risoluto, emanates a genuine, Irish swagger and earthy confidence in D Major. Swirling and militant phrases mix and separate with refreshing energy–not far from the spirit of Dvorak–the music having achieved a forcefully fluid momentum, placing Stanford firmly as an assured master in the realm of chamber ensemble.
The first of the two Stanford string quintets, that in F Major (1903), again pays homage to Brahms–whose first string quintet, Op. 88 is in the same key–though the musical means look to the lighter hand of Mendelssohn. Garth Knox provides the extra viola part, which often assumes a distinct, concertante character. Like the Piano Quintet, the sonic dimension of this three-movement work swells to “symphonic” proportions. Softly murmured F Major syncopations alternate with arioso passages or dialogues among the equal partners in the oft-swirling mix. The relative D Minor dictates the slow movement, Andante, which accesses Irish folk-singing modalities, the so-called sean nos of South-West Ireland. At times, this style imitates a kind of antiphon that flows into unisono chords. In a free meter, using tempo rubato, the viola chants the main tune over plucked strings, the theme a lament that might have charmed Michael Collins himself.
The last movement combines a lithe Scherzo with a Finale proper, the former section a theme and variations with a decidedly Mendelssohn skittishness. A poignant transition–shades of Smetana’s From My Life–takes us from F to D Minor to D Major. The Andante movement material reappears, quasi recitativo, only to give the first viola a jaunty 9/8 round-dance impulse that catches sauntering fire. Recorded 17-19 November 2004 at Henry Wood Hall, London, the two Stanford works benefit from the warm, close sonics, courtesy of Simon Eadon, engineer and Andrew Keener, recording producer. A pair of superior chamber works from Stanford, whose musical quality demands we lend an ear.
–Gary Lemco
