WALTON String Quartets = String Quartet (1919-22); String Quartet in A minor – Doric String Quartet – Chandos CHAN 10661, 62:17 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
William Walton (1902-83) is a major voice in British music, positioned between Holst, Elgar and Britten. Most of his music inspiration evolves from compositional techniques rather than from English folk music or extra-musical sources. He writes in a tonal harmonic style, demonstrating special brilliance in rhythmic vigor and flexibility, and contrapuntal lines.
Walton wrote his early String Quartet in his late teens and early twenties while an undergraduate at Oxford. It was not a critical success when premiered at the first festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music at Salzburg in 1923, so he made several cuts that became the norm in subsequent performances and recordings. The full-length original version, premiered here, is technically demanding and harmonically astringent. There is a tart lyricism in the work that reminds me a lot of Berg’s Violin Concerto. The first movement’s sadness resonates emotionally. The scherzo is contrapuntally vibrant, dramatic and exciting. The lengthy final movement is a fugue that pays homage to Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue. The texture is dense and complex; rhythmically it’s unsettling and emotionally serious. The Doric String Quartet performs it magnificently.
Walton started the String Quartet in A minor in 1944 and said, “I’m having a suicidal struggle with four strings and am making no headway whatsoever.” But he persisted, and finished it in 1947. The composer’s rhythmic and contrapuntal complexity remains, but there’s a lyrical warmth that represents his growing maturity. The exciting fugal episode in the center of the first movement is relieved by a touching viola melody. The fleet and vibrant scherzo is followed by the most heartfelt music on this disc – a beautiful Lento that’s led by the viola’s autumnal melody. The rondo finale is pregnant with rhythmic fireworks.
The recording is close with spatial reverberation that provides a wide soundstage. The Doric Quartet performs with a fiery intensity and lyrical sensitivity. This is an excellent disc of Walton quartets.
– Robert Moon
