Escher String Quartet: Barber & Ives
BIS

Whereas earlier releases by the New York-based Escher String Quartet—violinists Adam Barnett-Hart and Danbi Um, violist Pierre Lapointe, and cellist Brook Speltz (Brendan Speltz in place of Um since 2019)—feature works by Mendelssohn, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, and others, its fifth is rooted closer, geographically speaking. Stellar readings of pieces by Samuel Barber (1910-81) and Charles Ives (1874-1954) are presented, the second movement of the former's String Quartet in B minor otherwise known as the Adagio for Strings and the latter accounted for by his first two string quartets. The album hardly constitutes each figure's whole story, but the works are nevertheless representative of their respective styles. Though the content is American, the album was recorded in early 2019 at Potton Hall in Westleton, Suffolk.

Written in 1936 when he was twenty-six, Barber's first and only completed quartet is naturally noteworthy for its oft-performed second movement. However, the work as a whole merits consideration, especially when the lesser-known content provides a compelling complement. The spirited first movement begins with a sweeping flourish and continues vigorously until a lyrical section briefly arrests the momentum before the lively pace resumes. Though lyrical moments return, the writing generally hews to the spiritedness of its opening. Despite its cultural ubiquity, the “Molto adagio” portion of the subsequent movement, which initiated its journey into public consciousness when Barber's1938 transcription for string orchestra was presented (Toscanini conducting) in a nationwide broadcast, remains affecting when Escher String Quartet executes it with such grace and sensitivity to tempo and phrasing. The incrementally swelling melodies are voiced slowly and in doing so tension is intensified and the release all the more satisfying. Though Barber composed a lively third movement, he ultimately discarded it after judging the work better as a two-movement piece and consequently decided to re-structure the second movement as one comprising two parts, the adagio material followed by a short, animated section; the Eschers have included that original final movement, however, to allow listeners to hear the work as originally conceived. In its first moments, it perpetuates the delicacy of the second movement before the mood turns carefree and the material's infused with a folk-inflected sweetness. Clearly a strong argument can be made for its permanent reinstatement, especially when it adds a pleasing symmetry to the work.

The greater part of the recording is devoted to Ives, given that his first two quartets and a short, stand-alone scherzo are performed. Like the Barber piece, Ives's are emblematic of his style due to their liberal incorporation of supplemental material, including American hymns, classical quotes, and folk songs. Written between 1897 and 1909, the very accessible first quartet—‘From the Salvation Army' (‘A Revival Service')—begins with “Chorale,” a fugue whose melodious content draws from both hymns and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. All three of the ternary-structured (ABA) movements that follow— “Prelude,” “Offertory,” and “Postlude”—subject hymns to liberal transformation; as a result, their themes are voiced at times directly but elsewhere subsumed into the fabric of the movement and camouflaged through adjustments in rhythm, harmony, and juxtaposition. When quoted elements appear in close proximity, an almost collage-like effect materializes, and one is struck by Ives's audacity. Here and elsewhere, it's possible to see his approach as a forerunner of the sampling and cut-and-paste methodologies so commonly deployed by contemporary producers.

Even more jam-packed is the fleeting miniature Scherzo: ‘Holding Your Own' (from A Set of Three Short Pieces, 1903-04), which manages to squeeze into its minute-and-a half frame references to “Bringing in the Sheaves,” “Massa's in de Cold Ground,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Sailor's Hornpipe,” and “Streets of Cairo.” Capping the release is the three-movement second quartet, which is noticeably darker than the tonal first, even if it does eventually culminate in resolution. Ives's own characterization of the work hints at the tone: “S. Q. [String Quartet] for 4 men – who converse, discuss, argue (in re “Politick”), fight, shake hands, shut up – then walk up the mountain side to view the firmament!” Consistent with the image of combative interlocutors, tonal harmonies and dissonance pervade the writing, though moments of harmony and tonality do surface. Also consistent with Ives's description are the movement titles, with the first “Conversations & Discussions” followed by “Arguments” and “The Call of the Mountains.” In the first part, intermittent references to patriotic tunes brand the work as Ivesian, while the second, true to its title, includes many a passionate exchange (in notes included with the release, Geoffrey Block observes, for example, how the second violinist, embodying romanticism, is “shouted down in a barrage of modernist dissonance by the other instruments”). Adding to the heady mix, American song melodies are included but classical references to Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Beethoven too. At album's end, peaceful resolution is achieved in the final movement as the combatants set differences aside to ascend the mountain together.

October 2021