Canadian Early Modern composer Murray Adaskin [1906–2002] wrote three string quartets. Two appear to be available – No. 1 from 1963 and No. 2, titled La Cadenza, from 1994.
The First Quartet begins in a wispy, slightly atonal feeling, with indeterminate melodies wandering through a rubato passage. The cello responds to the violin’s questioning lines, sometimes with pizzicato. A section of harmonised strings is a wonderful, introspective sound. Now a violin soars into the upper register but soon returns to the dialogue. This music seems to move, but there is no apparent tempo as instrumental phrases constantly break up any sense of rhythm. A pause restarts with a lamenting solo violin expressing long melodic lines which are scantily supported by another violin and the cello. The piece constantly refers back to the opening feeling, usually leading to development of various harmonised melodic sections. This gently abstract feeling never abates and the end is a deep, sustained cello tone with shrill violin interjections.
The second movement, marked adagio, opens with a lamenting melody which is harmonised by the whole ensemble. The violins conduct a measured dialogue, sometimes involving harmonised lines. I find this to have an ethereal quality. A motif is handed from instrument to instrument, and then repeated. The absence of a tempo allows for some wonderful melodic musings to be heard as a gentle, mesmeric feeling unfolds. A harmonised ensemble sound, similar to the opening, leads back to a solo violin once more. Slowly the other instruments offer up responses, continuing this ethereal sound. That earlier motif is again passed around all instruments before we have a protracted, slow finish. This is a wonderful movement, a beautiful, gentle journey.
The finale starts in a tempo, the first time one has been heard. Playful violin melodies interact with the violin and cello. A solo cello statement interrupts the tempo but the violins soon return to push the music forward. This is assuming the nature of the first movement, although it is more energised. Another solo cello section leads back to the playful feeling, with overlapping lines, especially the cello, making for a joyous sound. The end, which comes as a surprise is a brief string flourish.
You could call this music abstract, indeterminate, non-representational, intangible or just non-specific, but the composer lays out a fascinating musical short story which really doesn’t seem to go anywhere that I have been before. It is very measured and definitely non-confronting. The Second Quartet, which is also on the review CD, occupies a similar soundspace to the First, and could be described by the words I have just used, but is possibly a bit more focussed.
This CD, The Collection Volume 1, performed by the Lafayette Quartet on the Centrediscs label can be had occasionally on Amazon US and UK as New and Used. It is also available as an MP3 download from both sites.
The disc is on Spotify and both quartets can be heard on earsense and YouTube.
Listenability: Gently abstract works. Those who value such qualities will no doubt be pleased by this disc.
Great, Steve. It never ceases to amaze me how many fabulous obscure string quartet composers are out there. Most of them only have one CD, or have been deleted or demoted to MP3 download. Sheesh …
JH
John, once again you’ve introduced me to a composer I’ve ended up really liking. At first I didn’t hear much daring in Adaskin’s “gently abstract works,” but after listening to both the SQs I appreciate him in the context of neo-classicism. He was a talented composer with a nice sense of narrative flow.