Customer Reviews

Peteris Vasks: String Quartet No. 4

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Kronos Quartet continues its devotion to contemporary works by Eastern European composers with this release. Lyrical and elegiac, the 4th String Quartet by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks is a meditation on the brutality and suffering of the 20th century. Commissioned for Kronos, it was first performed in May of 2000.

It is a five-movement work of about 30 minutes, and while not highly original, it has excellent models. Vasks declares that the second and fourth movements, Toccata I and Toccata II, are "in a spirit close to that of Shostakovich's style" -- "aggressive, and at times, ironic." This is a notable departure for Vasks, who is not known for anything dissonant or angry. These movements remind me specifically of Shostakovich's famous 8th Quartet, a work full of rage and sorrow dedicated to "the victims of war and fascism," and thought by many to be an indictment of Stalin as well (recorded by Kronos on BLACK ANGELS -- see my review). The first, third and fifth movements (Elegy, Chorale, and Meditation) are in the style that Vasks is known for, influenced by the "holy minimalism" of Part and Gorecki, with Latvian folksong motifs and romantic gestures that some might find to be overly ripe. He utilizes glissandos, seemingly representing movements up and down between the Earth to Heaven, which echo the powerful works of Sofia Gubaidulina. And Vasks draws on yet another influence -- the climax of the central Chorale parallels the well-known climax of Barber's "Adagio." The closing Meditation, the longest movement at 11:35, features a long, lovely solo for David Harrington's violin. This passage beautifully expresses the feeling of COMPASSION.

Vasks says of his 4th Quartet, "[t]here has been so much bloodshed and destruction, and yet love's power and idealism have helped keep the world in balance." Utilizing the recognizable works by Barber and Shostakovich, both emotionally direct and powerful works, couldn't make more sense. Vasks may not be the most original of contemporary composers, but he knows how to work with existing materials and create music that is accessible and moving.

Peteris Vasks was new to us and a chance encounter. Well worth the money. Wonderfully performed and recorded, it soars and urges our emotions through a wide range. Technically sound and marvelous compositions, quite a find!

I saw the Kronos Quartet perform this work in August of 2002 and I was completely BLOWN away. It is a work that is reminiscent of the string quartets of Terry Riley and of Samuel Barber's masterful "Adagio for Strings". I immediately emailed the quartet to see if they were going to release a recording of it and I was told they had one in the works. This is it, and to this day it melts me. The fifth movement, titled "meditation", is especially beautiful. Buy it. See for yourself. You will not regret it.

Growing up in downtown Winnipeg during the 1950s I was part of hordes of other children, most of them unruly, who had a lot of time on their hands during the long two-month summer holidays which in relative time were actually two centuries long. With the temperature being 95F outside with humidity and squadrons of vicious mosquitoes lurking in the un-mowed grass, the more clever children, like me, spent our time indoors rotting our teeth by consuming chocolate in various forms washed down with uncounted 16 oz. Coca Colas, and playing games like Monopoly. Little did we know that we were being brainwashed into buying into a virulent form of capitalism instead of playing a harmless children's game. The point of all this is that on the Monopoly board the cheapest and most scorned of properties were Mediterranean and Baltic Avenues. Was this fair? I am here to tell you that a lot of the best new classical music is being composed and performed in the Baltic area by Estonian, Latvian and Ukrainian artists. Here is an example. It is Peteris Vasks' String Quartet No. 4 performed by the brilliant and eclectic Kronos Quartet.
This is an amazing work. There are two spiky discordant movements (Toccata I and Toccata II) along with more introspective movements, including the final movement, Meditation, which is one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever heard -strange, nostalgic, and very moving. It takes me to places, other worldly places, better places. Even though I am usually a complaining, cynical, malcontent, fatalistic pseudo-gnostic, listening to the fifth movement (Meditation) somehow gives me hope that all is not lost. Think of it as a message from a better world -one you used to live in and may be able to go back to some day.

I agree with the comments that the release of this CD and the Berg CD separately is very irritating, however I would not want that to take away from the fact that this is a truly great piece of music and a beautiful recording. While it may be somewhat irritating to have to buy a CD with half an hour of music on it, if you are going to do that, I would highly recommend this one.

Vasks' Fourth String Quartet is much like Shostakovich's Eight String Quartet, except not. Whereas Shostakovich's quartet is overwhelming, brooding, and relentless, Vasks' work is far more reserved. Tension is just beneath the surface.

Shostakovich's opus ends in defeat. The finale is an example of just how haunting music can be. The finale to Vasks' Fourth Quartet is again another example of how haunting music can be- but this time, in another way. The pensive finale, with its violin solo, reflects upon all the injustice wrought last century.

What a great string quartet. I sat transfixed by Vasks writing. How wonderful the music develops, hints of Latvian floksongs inform much of the quieter movements and when the crunchy, disonant Toccata's 1 & 2 arrive, the listner is ready for it. The ending is marvelous bit of composition in which the violins perform a morendo as the gliss (sorry, I play trombone and this is the best I can do to describe it) upward into silence....I will be purchasing the violin concerto and other string quartets of Vasks as the editorial review suggests. This is wonderful 20th century music.

While it is true that there isnt that much music on this CD, the music that is on this CD is VERY well done and worth listening to; all the tracks are great. Peteris Vasks tonal language is so wide, making for an unpredictable and genuinely interesting piece of music. And of course, Kronos plays it wonderfully. I also recommend the Berg Lyric Suite too if you like this one.

I had enjoyed Vasks' Second String Quartet from 1984, "Summer songs" (Baltic Elegy), and I've enjoyed many of the collaborations and recordings of the Kronos Quartet (see my reviews of Cadenza on the Night Plain, Salome Dances, String Quartets 2 & 3, White Man Sleeps). So that was an auspicious start for this one, Vasks' Fourth Quartet, commissioned for and premiered by the ensemble in 2000. Expectations not fulfilled. It is run-of-the-mill Vasks, without the numerous touches of color and instrumental invention of the Second Quartet: just tritely post-Shostakovich in its two sardonic scherzos (this post-Shostakovich derivation, avowed by the composer, is something I had remarked, not for the better, in Vasks' Second Symphony, composed the year before the String Quartet, Symphony 2 / Violin Concerto: Distant Light), two wistful and ethereal outer movements (slow-moving and first violin playing in the stratosphere), and a middle movement, equally lyrical but more somber and meditative, rising to a climax a vehemence. The framing movements especially are quite beautiful, but again, fairly hackneyed in their compositional process. Sure, the music is, on a superficial level, "pretty" and enjoyable, but this kind of stuff has already been done and heard many times before, and Vasks just repeats the worn formulas from fifity years ago or more, with, I find, no particular invention.

This is also one of those half-timed CDs the Kronos has made an irritating specialty of. 32:12 is acceptable when the music is great (which I find is the case with Tan Dun's Ghost Opera, which I listened to immediately before this CD, but irksome when it is as un-revelatory as this one.

What is greater than purely beautiful, inspired music? Not much. Some think it would be better to combine this piece with the Berg Lyric Suite, putting them on the same CD. That would be better for your wallet, but I don't think it would serve the music as well as separate discs. They are two separate great pieces of music. They are completely different styles. They do not belong on the same CD. Each one is valuable and important on its own and needs no 'filler' to make the CDs worth the money.