February 2008It seems
incredible that so striking a work as Nicholas Maws Third String Quartet has waited
a dozen years for its first recording, but it is an unarguably authoritative and excellent
one. The University of Warwick commissioned the work for the Coull Quartet, its resident
ensemble since 1977, which introduced it in January 1995, recorded it the following
November, and has performed it in numerous venues since then. Like all of Maws
music, the Quartet is direct in its language, superbly crafted, rich in substance. Its
five connected movements are fascinating in their subtlety and contrasts -- and no less
remarkable for their conciseness. This is music that feels so concentrated that not a
single note could be omitted without to some degree weakening it; and for all its economy
of gesture it gives off a feeling of expansiveness.
It is a spiritual phenomenon, encountered with heartening
frequency in Maws music. In this case the opening Moderato grazioso simply
unfolds, without preamble, in a virtual definition of the term grazioso. The
concluding Lento molto, the works longest section, is gently elegiac without
being mournful, and the kaleidoscope of colors and rhythms in the three inner movements
simply defies description. The performance is authoritative and compelling, and the
recording itself suits the music ideally. The same goes for the relatively familiar
Britten works, though it might be felt that an additional work of Maws would have
been more welcome.
As it stands, though, Maw is definitely in good company
here, and if Brittens name helps to draw attention to this splendid release, so much
the better.
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