Search - Paquito D'Rivera, Carter Pann, Kevin Puts :: Life Music

A dazzling and gripping anthology of contemporary quartet wr

MartinP | Nijmegen, The Netherlands | 12/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though all works on this disc were written in 1999 or 2000, the listener need not fear any academic experimentation or sounds that are less than pleasant to the ear. All four pieces are solidly tonal, and clearly written from a desire to communicate. And so they do. Surprisingly, the quartet by the one "big name" represented here, Michael Torke, is by some margin the least interesting offering. It will be instantly recognizable to those familiar with his music: the signature syncopated rhythms and unapologetically optimistic mood are very much in evidence. I wondered, however, whether his style, with its brief, repetitive motifs, is all that suited to the string quartet medium. Only the middle movement brings some cantabile writing and a certain emotional charge, though to my ears it is not able to lift the piece as a whole much above the level of adeptly written, pleasant-sounding and inoffensive elevator music.

Carter Pann's "Love Letters" unabashedly takes its cue from Janaçek, though in fact it sounds more traditional than either of that composer's great quartets. It is cast in old-fashioned four-movement mould, and makes for interesting listening. The "Serenade" is particularly affecting, and the finale, "Passions", after a virtuoso opening settles obsessively on a haunting three-note theme that undergoes surprising and impressive permutations before the motorial agitation of the opening returns.

Paquito D'Rivera's work makes for interesting listening because of his unusual fusion of Latin American dance rhythms with more traditional string quartet idiom. The opening is highly atmospheric, and is dominated by a 5-note motto, that eventually recurs in tango-guise, after which other dance rhythms take over. In the end though, this `Village Street Quartet' seems too disjointed and overly concerned with instrumental effects (eventually the quartet even turns into a percussion ensemble) to sustain musical tension over a 15 minute span.

Finally, the pièce de résistance, the one absolute masterpiece that by itself makes this disc a must-buy for all string quartet aficionados, is Kevin Puts's "Dark Vigil". This is an incredibly impressive piece of quartet writing. After its arresting opening, in which tear-laden violins in their highest register set the mood, it easily sustains its emotionally compelling atmosphere over a single, 20-minute span. Inspired by the Colombine high school shootings, it follows the Beethovenian concept of "durch Nacht zum Licht", ending with an extended, ethereal in memoriam.

The Ying siblings play all this with great technical skill and emotional involvement - as they would, seeing that the works recorded here were commissioned by them in the framework of their ongoing "LifeMusic" project. The recording is clear and well-balanced. Very worthwhile!

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