KEVIN VOLANS – Moving Right Along – SQ No. 4

South African Contemporary composer Kevin Volans [born 1949] has written at least ten string quartets. Not all of them have been recorded and of those that have, some issues have been deleted. Volans came to prominence when the Kronos Quartet recorded his White Man Sleeps, in two versions. The second, complete version is still available on Pieces of Africa. This work, along with his other early quartets, contain strong influences of African music and minimalism. He befriended Morton Feldman and was obviously influenced by him, as evidenced in the second movement of the Fourth Quartet. This work is titled The Ramanujan Notebooks, after the great early twentieth century Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. It was written in 1990, and revised in 1994. Consisting of only two movements, it is still quite long.

The Fourth Quartet commences with some brief pizzicato rhythmic string sound effects, slightly African, interspersed with some simple violin phrases. There are also interjections of one iteration of a minimalist ostinato motif. This pattern continues for a time, with the number of iterations of the motif regularly increasing and hinting at what is to come. Eventually an extended ostinato prevails. A new phase emerges, with random violin phrases, together with some rhythmic punctuation. A lone violin now expresses some long tones, leading into an ensemble dialogue. This is quite an abstract passage, with all instruments having a say. A change to solo violin leads into another dialogue, this time with the second violin. There is also a return of the opening percussive string sound effects. A random section unfolds and we then have a brief pause.

Some further rhythmic dialogues occur, interspersed with abstract violin exchanges. The extended ostinato that I was anticipating hasn’t appeared and the feeling is introspective with occasional iterations of a motif. Solid, rhythmic chordal phrases are interjected sporadically and the first violin works around them. The feeling is sustained for some considerable time; it’s quite entropic now; before concluding on a sustained violin tone. This music is of a measured, modernist nature and while abstract, is totally inoffensive.

As previously mentioned, the second movement is in a completely different style. A Feldmanesque opening is a slow, simple, quiet melodic phrase, which is repeated. It could have come from Feldman’s String Quartet No. 2. A new ensemble phrase is introduced, and then another. There are subtle variations in each group of phrases, a feature not found in the above Feldman work. I think only careful listening reveals this. Now a phrase consists of a cello plucked note with a violin response; the cello is more obvious in the various phrases now. A longer phrase is introduced but this doesn’t change the mood, which is basically stasis. A rhythmic strike from a violin leads to some abstract sounding violins, the strikes return and the movement is over.

The review CD also contains String Quartet No. 6, titled Dancers On a Plane, which is a long, one-movement work – it also contains evidence of the composer’s African and minimalist interests.

This CD, titled Volans: Dancers on a Plane / The Ramanujan Notebooks / Movement for String Quartet, on the Collins Classics label, and performed by the Duke Quartet, is available on Amazon UK and Presto Classical.

There are many Volans quartets, including Nos. 4 and 6 on Spotify, earsense and YouTube.

Listenability: Interesting Contemporary works.