Boyle, Moeran, Ireland, Vaughan Williams

by Piatti Quartet

Overview

The four works offered here by the Piatti Quartet on its Rubicon label debut are all but unknown; even the Household Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, written during World War II for amateur performance, has been recorded only sparsely, and the String Quartet in E minor of Vaughan Williams' student Ina Boyle, having thus far been passed over in the general revival of music by women, here receives its world premiere. That strikingly passionate work may be the highlight here, and the Piatti Quartet does it justice, but consider also the Vaughan Williams pieces, which neatly fuse their derivation from Welsh hymn tunes with a three-movement Fantasia-Scherzo-Variations structure; the final variations are especially effective. All of the music is in the tonal and accessible Vaughan Williams vein, but all four works are distinctive. John Ireland's The Holy Boy is a transcription of a piano work by the composer; here, it serves the function of an intermezzo. The two-movement String Quartet No. 2 of E.J. Moeran was found among the composer's papers after his death, and it is uncertain when it was composed. The work makes use of folk music, but the flavor is quite different from Vaughan Williams' works of this type. The whole project suggests just how much English music of this period awaits rediscovery. The unidiomatic and rather cavernous church sound is about the only complaint on this delightful release. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	01/27/2023
Label:	Rubicon
UPC:	5065002228352
Rank:	66658

Tracks

1. Household Music, Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes~Crug-y-bar (Fantasia: Andante sostenuto)
2. Household Music, Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes~St Denio (Scherzo: Allegro vivace)
3. Household Music, Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes~Aberystwyth (Variations)
4. String Quartet in E minor~I. Allegro moderato
5. String Quartet in E minor~II. Adagio
6. String Quartet in E minor~III. Allegro molto
7. The Holy Boy
8. String Quartet No. 2 in E flat (Op. posth.)~I. Allegro moderato ma ben animato
9. String Quartet No. 2 in E flat (Op. posth.)~II. Lento - Andante - Vivace - Allegretto - Andante - Allegro - Vivace - Presto

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Piatti Quartet   Primary Artist,String Quartet

Technical Credits

Ralph Vaughan Williams   Composer
E.J. Moeran   Composer
David Byers   Editing
Raphael Mouterde   Engineer,Producer,Photography
Paul Mitchell   Cover Design
Lewis Foreman   Liner Notes
Matthew Cosgrove   Executive Producer
John Ireland   Composer
Matthias Lehmann   Liner Note Translation
Ina Boyle   Composer
Denis Mortell   Photography
Mainie Jellett   Cover Art