CD Reviews

Tomas Svoboda

String Quartets Vol. 1, No. 1 – 4

Martinu Quartet

North Pacific Music

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The four quartets on this recording represent quite a span of time in the life of Tomas Svoboda. The first quartet dates from 1960 and is aptly subtitled “The Dance Quartet”. Mr. Svoboda was only 19 when he began the piece and the work holds up well as a series of charming dance episodes. If one was to tell me that this work was a lost early Janacek piece, I wouldn’t question it. The movements are very pretty and bouncy and would be easy to dance to.

String Quartet No. 2 finds the composer many decades later in 1997. This work shows a much more mature composer with rich counterpoint and dramatic gestures. The first movement is darkly serene and haunting with some great orchestration. The movement picks up speed and urgency but returns to the contemplative opening. Movement two puts a lyrical violin melody against an all pizz background to great effect/affect. In the final movement, Mr. Svoboda recalls the complacent opening movement but halfway through he “gets his Shostakovich on” and gives us a scurrying frenetic closing.

Quartets 3 and 4 date from only a few years ago. According to the CD notes, in 2002 Mr. Svoboda began to write a LOT of string quartets (generating 6 more since then). These quartets are even more mature and powerful than the earlier works. Quartet 3 begins with strong emotional chords which erupt while counterpoint ensues. Mr. Svoboda is such a masterful orchestrator in this medium that it sounds like 9 people are playing instead of only 4. The middle movement’s opening chords bring to mind the opening of Mahler 6 and all the doom and menace that comes with it. The final movement is playful yet disturbingly energetic. At all times there is great counterpoint and texture. I get a sense that Mr. Svoboda being incredibly comfortable with the ensemble in this quartet, more so than the previous two works. This is a composer that knows what he wants and just lets it all snap.

Quartet 4 is very different from number 3 with its sparse and ghostly opening. The movement coaxes you in and doesn’t let go. Mr. Svoboda leads you through a haunting landscape and it is easy to want to go with him. The final movement is traditionally mournful with lush melodies, rich counterpoint, and the best ending to a quartet that I’ve heard in a long time. A somber tune is played by a single violin while the cello accompanies with a descending pizz. To increase the range of these cello pizzes, Mr. Svoboda emphasizes the last pluck with a bass drum played by the second violin. The effect is so simple and wonderful that I could hardly believe my ears.

The Martinu Quartet does a fantastic job performing all these works. Given the Czech heritage of Mr. Svoboda, this quartet brings an understanding and passion for Czech music to each of these pieces. Their sound is excellent and their interpretation leaves nothing to be desired (other than to hear more). This disc is a bit of a cliffhanger, though. I must now hear the remaining 4 quartets! I wish that the 6 quartets from 2002 – 2006 were released as a set (not unlike Peter Maxwell Davies Naxos Quartets) but I am glad that I have the earlier works as a reference for Mr. Svoboda’s output. I anxiously await Volume 2 of this collection!

My apologies for not using the appropriate Czech language characters Martinu and Janacek. I spent a lot of time looking for the right HTML code and came up empty. Any assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 3:31 pm and is filed under CD Review, Jay Batzner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.