Stanford's music is sometimes characterized as "Brahms with an Irish accent." That doesn't seem to apply to the first two quartets. Stanford wrote the first quartet shortly after hosting Antonín Dvorák. To my ears, it has the clean lines of Dvorák's quartets. I was also reminded of the clarity and linear organization of the early Beethoven quartets.
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 45 has a different character. Stanford dedicated it to Richard Gompertz, a violinist, and colleague at the Royal College of Music. The second quartet begins with a counterpoint that slowly unfolds as the themes develop. Here the harmonies are thicker, more suggestive of Brahms than Beethoven.
Stanford's final quartet was completed in 1910, almost fifteen years after the other quartets on this release. It's easy to hear Stanford's growth as a composer. Right from the beginning, this is wonderfully complex music -- but complexity with a purpose. Stanford's harmonies subtly shade the sinewy melodies, adding to the expressive depth of the music.
The Dante Quartet performs with precision and expressive energy. the ensemble passage sound quite full, and are especially beautiful in the thickly-textured sixth quartet.
The quartet is also well-recorded, with just enough ambiance to let the strings ring without smearing the sound. To my ears, the mics were ideally placed. They captured all the fine detail of the individual instruments while providing enough space to let the listener hear the ensemble as a whole.
SOMM has announced they'll be releasing Stanford's string quintets next. I'm ready.
Charles Villiers Stanford: String Quartets Nos. 1, 2, and 6
Dante Quartet
SOMM 0607
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