Search - Rosner, Swack, Trimble :: String Quartet 4

Worth getting for the Rosner quartet alone

C. P. Cooman | Cambridge, MA USA | 12/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD contains three 20th century string quartets by American composers. Each work is performed by a different student quartet from Oberlin Conservatory in a project organized by the record producer Max Schubel in the early 1990's. The level of performances is extremely strong and these groups are extremely committed to each work.



This disc is worth purchasing simply for Arnold Rosner's "String Quartet No. 4" (1972), which is one of the most remarkable and impressive compositions of this strong American composer. Cast in three movements (although unfortunately supplied as only one track on this disc), the work takes the listener through a gamut of emotional states all within Rosner's tightly controlled musical language, which updates elements of pre-Baroque music to his own expressive purposes.



The work makes for an "intense listen" throughout, but it is an amazingly gripping experience that no individual interested in contemporary music or the development and continuance of the string quartet literature should be without.



The other two quartets on the disc, by Irwin Swack and Lester Trimble, are appealing, though less remarkable than the Rosner.



Swack's neo-romantic quartet is an appealing chamber offering from this composer who is known primarily for his orchestral music."