William Walton - String Quartets (Doric String Quartet)

Information

Composer: William Walton

• String Quartet No. 1
• String Quartet No. 2 in A minor

Doric String Quartet

    Alex Redington, violin

    Jonathan Stone, violin

    Simon Tandree, viola

    John Myerscough, cello

Date: 2011

Label: Chandos

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Review

The coupling’s been done before – both the Gabrieli (Chandos, 10/91) and the Emperor (Black Box, 8/01) hit upon the same idea – but the Doric are the first to offer Walton’s extraordinarily ambitious String Quartet of 1919‑22 without the cuts made by the composer following the work’s first two performances during the summer of 1923 by the McCullagh Quartet in London and (a month later) at the inaugural ISCM Festival in Salzburg. Osbert Sitwell was in attendance for the latter event and recalled how the cellist inadvertently got her spike caught in the controls of the trap-door and disappeared into the stage: “The audience rocked. And even she ‘came up smiling’…Poor things.”

Following the public premiere, that same year, of the first version of Façade, Walton promptly withdrew the piece and later, in a 1963 interview, described it as “full of undigested Bartók and Schoenberg”. There are three linked movements: once past the somewhat turgid opening Moderato, both the central Scherzo and extended concluding Fugue (which pays unabashed homage to Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge) are never less than gripping in their prodigal energy levels, modernist daring and contrapuntal ingenuity – at least, that’s what comes over in this blazingly committed and triumphantly assured rendering by the Doric Quartet.

Their account of the mature A minor Quartet (1944‑47) is more impressive still, displaying an exquisite blend, rhythmic acuity and razor-sharp precision that even put me in mind of the Hollywood Quartet’s matchless world premiere recording on Testament (3/95). I was particularly smitten with the Doric’s glowing treatment of the rapturous slow movement (surely one of Walton’s most deeply personal inspirations), which they survey with a beguiling, almost conversational flow yet no loss of intimacy or piercing ardour. As for production values, I’m able to report that Jonathan Cooper’s sound and balance are beyond reproach. Anthony Burton supplies a characteristically lucid booklet essay. Make no mistake, this is a terrific disc in every way.

— Andrew Achenbach

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William Walton (29 March 1902 – 8 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include Façade, the cantata Belshazzar's Feast, the Viola Concerto, the First Symphony, and the British coronation marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre. Walton was a slow worker, painstakingly perfectionist, and his complete body of work is not large. His most popular compositions continue to be frequently performed in the 21st century, and by 2010 almost all his works had been released on CD.

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The Doric String Quartet, founded in 1998, is a UK-based chamber ensemble. Its membership has evolved, with Hélène Clément and later Emma Wernig serving as violist, Ying Xue joining as second violinist in 2018, and Maia Cabeza becoming first violinist in 2024. The quartet has been Teaching Quartet in Association at the Royal Academy of Music since 2015 and Artistic Director of the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival since 2018. With over 20 recordings for Chandos Records, it performs regularly at major venues including Wigmore Hall and Vienna Konzerthaus, and collaborates widely with leading artists.

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