Catalyst Quartet: UNCOVERED: Vol. 3
Azica Records

UNCOVERED, the latest chapter in Catalyst Quartet's ongoing anthology series, impresses with a thoroughly satisfying set of material by George Walker (1922-2018), Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004), and William Grant Still (1895-1978). The project's laudable for presenting works by them and two other critically important Black composers, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Florence B. Price, but the series is as commendable for the exceptional calibre of the quartet's playing. Without wishing to suggest the first volumes are in any way inferior, the argument could be made that the (digital-only) third, recorded at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, is the best to date when the group's performances are so inspired. The pieces by Walker (String Quartet No. 1 “Lyric”), Perkinson (String Quartet No. 1 “Calvary”), and Still (Lyric Quartet) were written between 1940 and 1956 and argue on behalf of their creators' rightful place in American concert music. None of those pieces would sound out of place on a contemporary string quartet programme.

While the 2010-founded Catalyst Quartet (Karla Donehew Perez and Abi Fayette, violins; Paul Laraia, viola; Karlos Rodriguez, cello) has issued albums featuring music by Bach, Jessie Montgomery, and JP Jofre, UNCOVERED has brought the group deserved attention for the care and integrity with which the project's been presented. In shining a strong light on the work of historically important Black composers, the quartet has achieved something special indeed.

Walker, Perkinson, and Still accomplished much during their lives: but one of many things he accomplished in an exceptionally diverse career, Perkinson co-founded the Symphony of the New World, the first racially integrated orchestra in the United States; in addition to being the first Black person to receive a doctorate from Eastman, Walker was the first living Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music, which he received in 1996 for Lilacs; and Still, often referred to as the “Dean of African-American Classical Composers,” studied with composers George Chadwick and Edgar Varèse and is recognized as the first Black composer to have had a large symphonic work performed by a major orchestra, the premiere of his Afro-American Symphony in 1931 by the Rochester Philharmonic. All three achieved much yet nevertheless struggled at times to have their music performed and recorded.

The fifty-five-minute set opens with Perkinson's first string quartet “Calvary,” completed in 1956 and premiered at Carnegie Hall as part of a memorial concert. Based on a spiritual that the composer heard growing up in church, the work begins with a spirited allegro whose impact's bolstered by the string quartet's luscious sound, deft rhythmic execution, and lyrical melodic articulation. The latter quality's especially pronounced in the plaintive central movement, a hushed adagio of affecting grace and eloquence. The animated closing movement's highlighted by a swinging, blues-inflected melody the first violin delivers alongside kinetic flurries by the others. Closing the circle, the “Calvary” theme re-emerges to help resolve the work and lend it satisfying shape.

Believed to have been composed between 1939 and 1945, Still's Lyric Quartet was published in 1960 and features movements designed to convey in musical fashion a plantation, the mountains of Peru, and a pioneer settlement, respectively. Interestingly, the work's original title was Musical Portraits of Three Friends, a choice arguably more consistent with the movement titles. Listening engagement is assured when “The Sentimental One” initiates the piece with folk melodies that are serene, touching, and lilting (towards the movement's end, a striking passage unexpectedly calls The Lark Ascending to mind). While the second movement, “The Quiet One,” proves as stirring in the hushed reverence of its melancholic themes, the impish closer “The Jovial One” is as playful and mischievous as expected.

April 2023