American Music

Quatuor Diotima is a fairly new string quartet comprised by graduates of the Paris and Lyon conservatories and takes its name from a piece by Luigi Nono, Fragmente-Stille, an Diotima. So, implicitly, these young and talented performers have a strong commitment to the music of our time. This recording is a very exciting addition to the string quartet niche most regularly characterized by the Kronos Quartet. Each work represented has become a standard in modern American string quartet repertoire. Steve Reich's Different Trains is one of Reich's most chilling and captivating works. A pulsing, very train-like string canvas serves as the "reaction" to a series of prerecorded quotes from speakers who - at first - inform passengers in a train station in New York, for example, what train will take them where they want to go to and the mood shifts suddenly. The speakers' voices then are clearly discussing the trains that carried Jews to the concentration camps to their death; a very "different" train to be sure. Reich's trademark ability to find the pitch and rhythm in human speech and build small melodic cells around it works especially well in this work. The Samuel Barber String Quartet in b-minor is another American classic and quite different, of course, from the Reich. Barber wrote tonal, pensive music that almost always has a tender, reminiscent quality to it and his use of voicings and his choice of harmonies has given his music a sound that many describe as very "American" in its feel, similarly to the mood established by Copland. Barber's b-minor quartet also is the work containing the central movement that has now become, probably, his best known piece - the "Adagio" for strings. As beautiful and arresting as this movement is, it is a real treat to hear the work in its original context. The quartet itself is full of wonderful writing and memorable melody. The closing molto allegro begins almost casually, in response to that central adagio, before entering into a very brief, coda-like syncopated flourish. This is a very fine work and should be heard more often in this manner, with the famous adagio in its original setting. This collection concludes with the classic, nightmare-ish Black Angels for amplified string quartet by George Crumb. Written in 1970, this is, in many ways, archetypal Crumb. Filled with quotations evoking death or the underworld such as the Schubert Death and the Maiden and numerology, such as organized in groups of sevens and thirteens, this is an intentionally macabre, spooky and imagery laden work, played quite well her by the Quatuor Diotima. Congratulation to Diotima for recognizing the significance of these works and giving them authentic, heartfelt and bracing performances. It would not be appropriate to compare this disc to the iconic performances by the Kronos or - in the case of Crumb - the original New York String Quartet on CRI. Rather, here is a great opportunity to have these three "must have" pieces on a single disc played very well! (The cover photo of a man pointing a pistol is a little odd Even though it is from a Kubrick television, if there is symbolism intended I think I miss it) Good job, again, Naive recordings for producing this gem!