Category Archives: Chamber music

On Record – Ensemble MidtVest – Matthew Owain Jones: String Quartet no.1, Wind Quintet; Nielsen arr. Jones: Aladdin (First Hand Records)

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Matthew Owain Jones
String Quartet no.1 ‘Deletia’ (1993, rev. 2012)
Wind Quintet (2016)
Nielsen arr. Jones
Aladdin, FS89: Nine Pieces for wind quintet, string quartet and piano (1917-19, arr. 2018)

Ensemble MidtVest [Charlotte Norholt (flute), Peter Kirstein (oboe), Tommaso Lonquich (clarinet), Yavor Petkov (bassoon), Neil Page (horn); Matthew Owain Jones, Karolina Weltrowska, Ana Feitosa (violins), Sanna Ripatti (viola), Jonathan Slaatto (cello), Martin Qvist Hansen (piano)]

First Hand Records FHR163 [63’53’’] All world premiere recordings
Producers / Engineers Michael Ponder (String Quartet, Wind Quintet), Morten Mogenson (Aladdin)

Recorded 6 December 2017 (String Quartet), 11 January 2018 (Wind Quintet), 29-31 August 2018 (Aladdin) at Den Jyske Sangskole, Herning, Denmark

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

First Hand Records makes a welcome addition to its contemporary catalogue with this release of music or arrangements by Matthew Owain Jones, all performed by the extended outfit that is Ensemble MidtVest and among whose varied personal the composer himself can be found.

What’s the music like?

Fifty last year, Jones has had a diverse career as a musician as is recounted in his personable booklet notes. Composing has often taken a back seat in his activities, the works here written almost a quarter-century apart, yet there can be no doubting the idiomatic nature of his music.

Composed when barely out of his teens, the First String Quartet is evidently the product of a gifted if unfocussed musical talent. Jones admits as much by appending the subtitle ‘Deletia’ to its revision almost two decades on – the original four movements having been reduced to just two, albeit substantial entities. These duly complement each other in almost all respects – the initial Andante exuding a warmth and fervency that is questioned, without being denied outright, by the ensuing Allegro whose ‘minaccioso’ marking underlines its capricious while sometimes ominous nature. The result is uneven yet engaging – making it a pity that, after a musical co-written with his sister, Jones should have left composing somewhat in abeyance.

It was the positive reception accorded that revision of his quartet which encouraged Jones to return to composition in earnest, and among the first fruits of this resumption was his Wind Quintet. Its substantial single movement falls into four continuous sections such as outline a relatively Classical design (albeit with an intermezzo-like section placed second), and Jones cannily exploits those incremental changes in timbre or texture without recourse to extremes of tempo and mood. The outcome is music demonstrably within the lineage of a genre more extensive than often supposed and, though its content breaks little new ground, this is never less than expertly conceived for the medium and affords a pleasurable listen in its own right.

The locus classicus of wind quintets has to be that written just over a century ago by Nielsen, music by which composer ends this collection. Although its suite is periodically revived, the lavish incidental music (not a ballet, as is referenced several times in the notes, though there is a notable element of dance) for Adam Oehlenschlager’s play Aladdin proved too ambitious even at its Copenhagen premiere. Surprising, perhaps, that the nine numbers included here translate so well into the medium of a mixed decet – preserving the distinctive nature of music from Nielsen’s maturity (it comes mid-way between his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies) and thus making it freely available to practitioners for the very different context of the recital room.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. Much of the attraction of this collection lies in the respect which the members of Ensemble MidtVest have for Jones and his music, thereby making for performances that could scarcely be improved upon in terms of technical refinement or interpretative insight.

Is it recommended?

It is, not least as the sound conveys the immediacy but also delicacy of this music with ideal clarity and perspective. Jones must feel vindicated by the enterprise, as indeed he should, and one looks forward to more releases of both his compositions and arrangements in due course.

Listen & Buy

Click on the names to read more about composers Matthew Owain Jones and Carl Nielsen, and the performers Ensemble MidtVest

Published post no.2,515 – Saturday 26 April 2025

On Record – Arnold Cooke: Complete String Quartets, Volume One (The Bridge Quartet) (Toccata Classics)

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Arnold Cooke
String Quartet no.1 (1933)
String Quartet no.3 (1967)
String Quartet no.5 (1978)

Bridge Quartet [Colin Twigg, Catherine Schofield (violins), Michael Schofield (viola), Lucy Wilding (cello)]

Toccata Classics TOCC0696 [56’05”]
Producer and Engineer Michael Ponder

Recorded 21-22 November 2022, 5-6 March 2023, All Saints’ Church, Thornham

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Toccata Classics continues its coverage of Arnold Cooke (his organ music is on TOCC0659) with this first volume of his string quartets, performed by The Bridge Quartet and confirming him as a skilful practitioner of a genre such as found favour with many composers of his era.

What’s the music like?

Premiered by the Griller Quartet in March 1935, the First Quartet gained the praise of no less than Havergal Brian and helped to establish Cooke’s wider reputation. Completed a year after his return from study in Berlin, this undeniably shows the influence of Hindemith but offsets it with a lyrical poise as to suggest lessons well learned from an earlier generation of British composers. Although cast in four movements, the opening Lento is a fugue whose emotional austerity never seems unduly severe – with the ensuing Vivace and Allegretto a scherzo then intermezzo of respective impetus and suavity. The final Presto rounds off proceedings with a keen yet never wanton energy that sets the seal on a substantial and approachable work; one which should not have had to wait 84 years until its revival by the present ensemble in 2022.

First given by the English Quartet in May 1968, the Third Quartet is contemporaneous with Cooke’s Third Symphony – whose coupling on Lyrita with a suite from his ballet Jabez and the Devil doubtless introduced many to this composer. Here one senses the presence, rather than influence as such, of Bartók – specifically his Sixth Quartet, the underlying rhythm of whose Marcia informs the initial Allegro of this work, and whose recurrent Mesto theme proves hardly less pervasive in an Andante which none the less emerges as one of Cooke’s most thoughtful and revealing statements. The brief scherzo exudes a driving impetus that carries over into a final Allegro that, in its ongoing vivacity and affirmative close, confirms this as the most likely of these quartets to find its place in the repertoire of the 20th century.

By the time his Fifth Quartet received its premiere in March 1979, Cooke had evidently been eclipsed by a younger generation though there is nothing overtly reactionary about this piece. Unfolding as a single movement, it has three clearly defined sections (as on this recording) -thus, a tense if ambivalent Moderato leads into an Allegro which adeptly elides scherzo and slow movement with no loss of ongoing momentum, then a Presto whose sheer brevity does not preclude allusions to earlier ideas as it steers this compact work to a decisive conclusion.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. Cooke might never have had an overtly distinctive or even personal idiom, but his music has a technical rigour and a feel for communication as makes listening rarely less than pleasurable. It helps when, in the Bridge Quartet, it has exponents so well versed in the lineage of British quartet writing – not least the composer who provided this ensemble’s name – and as attentive to the wealth of contrapuntal invention as to the greater design with each of these pieces. Hopefully other such groups will be encouraged to include them in their recitals.

Is it recommended?

Indeed so. The recording has a focus and perspective which is ideal for such music, and there are succinctly informative annotations by Peter Marchbank. Hopefully the follow-up volume, featuring the Second and Fourth Quartets, will be appearing from this source before too long.

Listen & Buy

For purchase options, you can visit the Toccata Classics website. Click on the names to read more about The Bridge Quartet and composer Arnold Cooke.

Published post no.2,497 – Monday 7 April 2025

In concert – Philharmonia Chamber Players – Beethoven: Septet

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Philharmonia Chamber Players [Maura Marinucci (clarinet), Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay (violin), Scott Dickinson (viola), Alexander Rolton (cello), Owen Nicolaou (double bass), Sarah Pennington (horn), Marceau Lefèvre (bassoon)

Beethoven Septet in E flat major Op.20 (1802)

Royal Festival Hall, London
Thursday 20 March 2025 6pm

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood Picture (c) Marc Gascoigne

Beethoven’s six-movement Septet is, to all intents and purposes, a Serenade for seven instruments. As such it was perfectly timed in this early evening slot, the ideal piece with which to entertain a relaxed and healthily-sized crowd.

Clarinettist Maura Marinucci introduced the work, and her love of the piece was clearly shared by her Philharmonia Orchestra friends as they went about a performance that was by turns vigorous and lyrical.

Beethoven’s scoring was highly original in 1802, and it is easy to see why the piece proved so popular, with its abundance of good tunes and colourful textures. These were evident right from the opening, the bassoon and double bass giving a lovely heft to the lower end of the sound. They supported the winsome tunes, divided largely between Marinucci’s clarinet and the violin of Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay. Marinucci especially enjoyed the soft-hearted second movement, while Visontay had an increasingly virtuosic role to play, sometimes pushing ahead of the tempo in his eagerness but relishing Beethoven’s technical challenges.

The Minuet, with its impudent theme thumbing a nose at the audience, was nicely done, while the theme and variations forming the fourth movement were especially enjoyable, notably the first variation, assigned to the upper string trio, and the mischievous final variation and coda.

Above all this performance was a great deal of fun, the players enjoying sharing the tuneful material with their audience, an approach capped by a quickfire finale and dazzling cadenza from Visontay. Just as affecting, mind, was the hushed chorale from the winds preceding this moment.

Ultimately the music matched the weather, bringing the vitality of early spring to the Royal Festival Hall stage.

For details on the their 2024-25 season, head to the Philharmonia Orchestra website

Published post no.2,480 – Friday 21 March 2025

In concert – Mark van de Wiel, Philharmonia Chamber Players – Gipps & Weber

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Philharmonia Chamber Players [Mark van de Wiel (clarinet, above), Eugene Lee, Fiona Cornall (violins), Scott Dickinson (viola), Karen Stephenson (cello)]

Gipps Rhapsody in E flat major (1942)
Weber Clarinet Quintet in B flat major Op.34 (1811-15)

Royal Festival Hall, London
Thursday 20 February 2025

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood Picture of Mark van de Wiel (c) Luca Migliore

This free concert in the Royal Festival Hall was a breath of fresh air. Bolstered by visitors, the auditorium was a heartening two-thirds full, the audience made up of families, tourists and workers seeking musical enlightenment. Yours truly fell into the latter category!

The Philharmonia Orchestra have played to this type of crowd for decades now, either by way of introduction to their evening concerts (like this one) or providing a standalone concert focusing on a particular composer (Music of Today) or instrument.

In this instance they covered all bases, with music for clarinet and string quartet introduced from the stage by principal clarinet Mark van de Wiel. The ensemble began with a relative rarity, Ruth Gipps’ Rhapsody in E flat major only coming in from the cold in recent years. Dedicated to her fellow RCM student and future husband, Robert Baker, it is an attractive piece with affection evident from its soft, pastorally inflected first statement. However Gipps’ folk-inspired variant on the opening theme steals the show, firstly heard on cello then subsequently joined by its companions, the clarinet finally singing eloquently over pizzicato strings.

In his talk Van de Wiel’s love of the piece was evident, before he introduced another sleeping giant, Weber’s Clarinet Quintet. Often sitting in the shade of its illustrious companions by Mozart and Brahms, this winsome piece – written for clarinettist Heinrich Baermann – demonstrates just how far the instrument had progressed in the two decades since Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.

Van de Wiel demonstrated how his clarinet, with 17 keys, was at an advantage to that of Baermann’s ten, in theory reducing the difficulty. His modesty, however, was made clear in the virtuoso demands Weber still makes on the instrument, a fully-fledged soloist, with all manner of tricks up its sleeve.

To Weber’s credit this is not at the expense of musical quality or emotional impact, for although we enjoyed some flights of fancy in the first movement Allegro there was plenty of feeling in the dialogue between clarinet and string quartet. A tender, operatic second movement followed, then an airy and enjoyably mischievous Menuetto rather fast for dancing perhaps but charming all the same. Then came the brilliantly executed finale, living up to its Allegro giojoso marking as Van de Wiel mastered Weber’s increasingly athletic demands with flair and musicality.

Happily both pieces have been recorded as part of a new album forthcoming from the quintet on Signum Classics, where they will team this repertoire with Anna Clyne’s Strange Loops. If the performances match these live accounts, they will constitute a fine document from one of Britain’s very best clarinettists. As though to confirm this, the assembled throng left wreathed in smiles.

For details on the their 2024-25 season, head to the Philharmonia Orchestra website

Published post no.2,452 – Friday 21 February 2025

In appreciation – György Kurtág at 99

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by Ben Hogwood Picture of György Kurtág (c) Filarmonia Hungaria

This is a post in honour of the remarkable composer György Kurtág, celebrating his 99th birthday today.

You can read about his work with baritone Benjamin Appl in an interview published on Arcana last week, but to get some appreciation of Kurtág’s remarkable music, here are a few pointers:

It is perhaps a bit restrictive trying to listen to Kurtág’s music via a YouTube link, so if you can find a widescreen system to play Grabstein für Stephan on then I fully recommend it. Following the score will show just how imaginative his orchestration is, and how compressed and concentrated the music becomes.

Meanwhile the Microludes, for string quartet, encapsulate Kurtág’s economical and pinpoint style, pieces whose every move and aside is critical to the whole.

One of my favourite live experiences was watching Kurtág and his now late wife Márta play exquisite duets at the Wigmore Hall for the composer’s 80th birthday. It was like eavesdropping on a private conversation between two intimately connected souls, no more so than when they were playing Kurtág’s own arrangements of J.S. Bach:

Published post no.2,450 – Wednesday 19 February 2025