Y’know, after hearing this it wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that one of Durupt’s chief influences was the “Grande Dame of the Glissando” herself, Gloria Coates. Which is, of course, a good thing!
Laurence W
7 years ago
I was at this concert and I hadn’t gone to see the premiere, though I listen to a lot of contemporary music. I found it passable, not ground-breaking and not dull. My favourite moment was when the lead violin is returning to the tremolando behaviour and rest of the quartet are still in the quieter sound world. But, it didn’t catch me into it like some of my favourite quartet works like Jürg Frey No. 2, or Ferneyhough No. 4.
i’m with you there Laurence, not great, not awful, just passable. Didn’t really catch me either, but i do like that softer central episode, there’s some magic going on there.
Daniel Pett
7 years ago
I liked it as what it was: a small scale single movement piece. I think its reception was hampered by coming after another small scale masterwork (the langsamersatz), being presented and hyped as Durupt’s first string quartet and also having a title that could imply more substantial material
Yes, all very good points. i think the extent to which Laurent talked about the piece beforehand, describing in detail three different aspects of the title, also lent a bit too much weight to what it actually sounded like. i mean, i’m all for multi-layered compositions, but come on, this was really just a simple A-B-A structure, so no need to get too overblown about the deep inner meaning, inspiration and so on. Another example of a composer not realising that less is more: better to let the music speak and not get involved yourself!
Y’know, after hearing this it wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that one of Durupt’s chief influences was the “Grande Dame of the Glissando” herself, Gloria Coates. Which is, of course, a good thing!
I was at this concert and I hadn’t gone to see the premiere, though I listen to a lot of contemporary music. I found it passable, not ground-breaking and not dull. My favourite moment was when the lead violin is returning to the tremolando behaviour and rest of the quartet are still in the quieter sound world. But, it didn’t catch me into it like some of my favourite quartet works like Jürg Frey No. 2, or Ferneyhough No. 4.
i’m with you there Laurence, not great, not awful, just passable. Didn’t really catch me either, but i do like that softer central episode, there’s some magic going on there.
I liked it as what it was: a small scale single movement piece. I think its reception was hampered by coming after another small scale masterwork (the langsamersatz), being presented and hyped as Durupt’s first string quartet and also having a title that could imply more substantial material
Yes, all very good points. i think the extent to which Laurent talked about the piece beforehand, describing in detail three different aspects of the title, also lent a bit too much weight to what it actually sounded like. i mean, i’m all for multi-layered compositions, but come on, this was really just a simple A-B-A structure, so no need to get too overblown about the deep inner meaning, inspiration and so on. Another example of a composer not realising that less is more: better to let the music speak and not get involved yourself!