DANIEL JONES – Mr Melancholy – String Quartet No. 1

Welsh composer Daniel Jones [1912-1993] wrote eight string quartets. These are some of my favourite quartets of the 20^th century. I shall discuss his first effort here but you can be sure I will be revisiting him again in the not too distant future!

String Quartet No. 1 was written in 1946 and is in four movements.

The work opens with a very sparse feeling. There is a long pause after the first tentative phrases from the violin. The ensemble responds, maintaining the mood. Another pause ensues. The violin continues with the opening melody, which is very lonely. Another long pause; now the whole ensemble is engaged, moving into a serious musical space for a short time. All the while the melody is being developed. Following another brief pause, the mood lightens a little and all of the instruments come into play. Now we have forward movement, and a much lighter feeling until the mood thickens again. This is a most captivating passage. The music starts to become busy; then returns to the opening melody. There is a long pause and a short theme statement concludes the movement. Such bliss…

The next movement commences as a playful piece. Folk-like melodies prevail and one theme in particular is very charming. A pause leads to a new mood with pizzicato filling out the sound. Now we are back to the soundscape of the first movement. Out of the mood emerges a lone violin statement with minimal accompaniment. This new melody is developed and the intensity increases, before dropping back to a sparse passage. This has another serious theme, very longing. Suddenly a rhythmic passage begins. It develops a strong melody and concludes with a flourish.

The third movement is marked adagio and begins with low cello introducing a melodic mood. There is plenty of space here as the composer takes his time. The introspective nature of the first two movements is repeated here. Slowly a tempo develops but then abruptly stops; another pause. The music returns, just so sparse; it is almost static, just a murmur now and again. It finishes on one lonely note.

The final movement begins in a pastoral mood. A folk-like melody is developed and the music is swept up in it. The sound becomes quite full before the cello introduces a rhythmic motif as a carpet for the violins. This is very delicate music. Another pause follows before a recapitulation of the first movement opening theme. It is developed ever so slowly with the other instruments adding abstract colour to the main violin theme. Another long pause ensues. The theme is stated once, then a few selected notes complete the work. This is a deeply moving piece of music.

If this is Wales, I want to go there! This is a fine set of largely introspective music. There are several modern movements here but it is mostly in a peaceful mood.

There is a 2-CD set of the complete String Quartets by the Delme Quartet on Chandos. However, availability of the set is uncertain. Sometimes it is on Amazon US or UK, other times the dreaded currently unavailable appears. If melancholia appeals to you then I suggest you make an effort to obtain it soon. I recently acquired a used copy, but they are becoming harder to locate. At the time of writing, there were still new copies available on Amazon US, and also from Amazon UK resellers. Someone told me they located one from Japan.

Some of Jones’ quartets, including No. 1 are available on YouTube and earsense.

Listenability: This is deeply moving, transcendent music.