Thread: Weekly quartet. Just a music lover perspective.

Well, this was fun. It starts with a nicely sprung theme that, to my ears, could come from the celtic world of Bax or Moeran but doesn't. There's something of Shostokovich in this, certainly, albeit with none of Shostakovich's distinctive tics. There are also similarities, in some ways, with Prokofiev and Kabalevsky. And, if I was going to be provocative, I'd mention Ives and Haydn, too. If 'neoclassical' means very much, I suppose it would cover this. It's in a key, and there are themes and developments and recapitulations and everything.

I've now listened to both the recordings available on YouTube, twice, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what the Silesians do with it. I slightly prefer the Danel version, at least for the moment, but I couldn't say why. The Pacifica Quartet is a bit more pointed, but that's largely a matter of taste. What struck me about this quartet, in both renditions, is that it works together very well. Astonishingly well. And that, like all well-crafted things, listening from a different angle doesn't hurt.

The question I like to ask is 'why', and I guess the answer here is that Weinberg was a composer. I don't suppose I've read anything that everyone hasn't read already, but Weinberg clearly liked (or needed) to keep himself busy, and took his work seriously, whether or not he'd get paid for it. I imagine that solidarity with other composers was a bit of a motive and, whether there's any truth to the story of his bet with Shostakovich, a competitive element, too. It's difficult to keep up with the pack and stand out from it, and I imagine he'd have been far from alone in trying to strike that balance, but here he seems to have succeeded, if a bit too well for comfort at the time.

From the scratchy bits of googling I've done, it seems Weinberg didn't spend the previous summer at the Composer's House in Ivanovo - where Prokofiev may have been helping Kabalevsky finish his 2nd quartet, and lending a bit of Cinderella for Shostakovich's (possibly by accident) - so any apparent borrowing from the home crowd is probably coincidental. That said, every time I listen, I seem to catch fragments that I've overheard before, but whether they've been dredged from the depths of Mussorgsky, wrested from humble peasants or pinched from peevish pretzel vendors, I couldn't rightly say.

But that's probably more than enough words from me. It's brightened my week. Best wishes and thanks to Malx for choosing it.

Originally Posted by Burbage

The question I like to ask is 'why', and I guess the answer here is that Weinberg was a composer. I don't suppose I've read anything that everyone hasn't read already, but Weinberg clearly liked (or needed) to keep himself busy, and took his work seriously, whether or not he'd get paid for it. I imagine that solidarity with other composers was a bit of a motive and, whether there's any truth to the story of his bet with Shostakovich, a competitive element, too. It's difficult to keep up with the pack and stand out from it, and I imagine he'd have been far from alone in trying to strike that balance, but here he seems to have succeeded, if a bit too well for comfort at the time.

Not totally sure what you're talking about with this paragraph and that last bit. Are you talking about his prolificity or just his general intentions as a composer?

Originally Posted by GucciManeIsTheNewWebern

Not totally sure what you're talking about with this paragraph and that last bit. Are you talking about his prolificity or just his general intentions as a composer?

I understand, from what I've read here and a few places elsewhere, that the sixth quartet was very popular with Weinberg's fellow composers, but much less with the authorities, including, perhaps, the Musical Union, which was in charge of what music was published (this was) and performed (this wasn't). They also ran the Composers' House in Ivanovo and I can't see that Weinberg was ever invited to stay there. Perhaps it didn't fit with his plans. Or maybe he was there, but under a different spelling. Or maybe he wasn't in favour.

It's just a hint, and I've done next-to-no research, which is why I wrote with, I hope, guarded circumlocutoriousness. Individual talent was appreciated, at the time, but only when it served good Soviet aims. If it didn't, or the authorites just didn't like it (authorities who may have been coached by professional rivals), or it belonged to the 'wrong sort' of person, then it's likely to have been as much a liability as a gift, especially for those without an international reputation. Such things didn't just decide whether your music got played or not, it was the difference between being a composer and a salt-mine statistic.

As for the keeping busy, Weinberg seems to have been writing prolifically in the preceding years. Again, I don't know why, exactly, he might have simply been ambitious. But he wouldn't, I gather, be the first composer to shut out the fears of oppression, war or persecution by writing music.

So, in answer to your question: yes, both.

Originally Posted by HenryPenfold

It earned enormous attention in the UK last year, including winning the Gramophone Recording Of The Year 2020. I agree with you, it's a stunning piece (I still haven't quite got to grips with it completely).

EDIT: On checking my download account, I bought this recording on 9th May 2019, so I'm not sure why Gramophone have it as their recording of the year for 2020. Strange.

Henry! Please excuse if this has been answered else but is this the recording you refer to?61dTWt0-foL._AC_SL1200_.jpg

Originally Posted by HenryPenfold

Yes ELbowe, that is the one. Why, have I caused some confusion?

No none whatsoever HP! ~ I just wished to clarify as sometimes I get sensory overload!! So much music! Thanks!!
Sheer coincidence ….all of a sudden its Mieczyslaw Weinberg everywhere!!!….Just got advanced notification of upcoming programmes on Mezzo TV for the next week, Next week this:
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (Conductor)
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (Cello)
Programme Includes:
….Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919 - 1996)
24 Preludes for cello, Op. 100 (n ° 18, Sarabande)

Oliver Knussen (1952 - 2018)
The Way to Castle Yonder

Mieczyslaw Weinberg
Symphony No.3 in B minor

Recording: August 22 2019 - London Proms 2019

That should be worth hearing/seeing. While I have never heard Mr. Kanneh-Mason perform I am interested to hear him… I read a UK critic comment last year (?) on a recording that he is not top shelf in the Cello world with so many excellent players around these days (Alisa Weilerstein, Camille Thomas, Gabetta, Várdai, etc., ) and he wonders if he hadn’t played at a famous wedding would we be still hearing about him…harsh?