Soviet-Russian-born American Contemporary composer and pianist Lera Auerbach [born 1973] has written at least eight string quartets. As far as I can tell, only one, her Third has been recorded. This work is titled Cetera desunt which I believe translates to ‘the rest are missing — used especially to indicate that a manuscript is incomplete’. Thanks to Merriam-Webster.
The work opens with a strong cello tone, which is immediately joined by assertive dissonant long violin tones. After this period of drama, some rhythmic lines are heard in a brief passage before a pause returns to the opening feeling, concluding with some powerful rhythmic thrusts.
A cello again opens the next movement and mournful violin tones drift above its sustained, resonant texture. The violins move into an excited passage, again leading to a feeling of drama. A further pause introduces an introspective period with one violin lamenting over a pizzicato viola mood.
The third, brief movement has a constant violin motif underpinning various disparate, sometimes mournful, sometimes assertive violin ejaculations, before leading to an abrupt stop.
This time a solo violin expresses a lonely lament, before the cello brings a delicate pizzicato accompaniment to the fore. Now the cello sustains a drone and the violin is ever so shrill. Dropping in register, the lament returns in a stunningly beautiful passage. The emergence of a second violin part leads to a faded end.
Harmonised, rhythmic thrusts introduce the next movement. After a time a virtuoso violin part is heard, which eventually dominates the music, leading to a feeling of chaos before another abrupt end.
Long, dissonant violin phrases announce the next movement before the music changes into a gentle, almost Early Music sound with a sparse violin expressing over a second. The intensity is now increased and we have modernity again as the cello displays a searing tone and a serious passage ensues. This prolonged cello section rapidly increases in tempo and then recedes into a wistful violin over a gently plucked cello.
The penultimate movement opens as a delicate soundscape of an extremely poignant nature. A walking cello line briefly carries the music forward, with the emotional intensity gradually increasing. Towards the end, the tension is released and a sense of evanescence concludes.
The eighth and final movement again features an Early Music quality as a gentle violin, using double-stops, meanders freely. When it is joined by the second violin, it expresses more powerfully and positively cries out – this is a desperately morose passage. A cello adds a smattering of notes, which leads to what has to be the longest fade I have heard.
I look forward to more recordings of Auerbach’s string quartets to see where they take me.
The review CD has the work paired with Shostakovich’s marvellous Eighth Quartet, on the Capriccio label, and performed by the Petersen Quartet. This disc is in various states of availability on Amazon US and UK.
The work can be heard on Spotify, earsense and YouTube.
Listenability: Wonderful, richly expressive work.