The String Quartet

Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) – Two movements for string quartet (1924, 1926)

1. Comodo et amabile, 2. Poem

Performers: Julstrom String Quartet

CD: Centaur Records

Imogen Holst (1907-1984) – Phantasy Quartet (1928)

Performers: David Worswick, Oliver Coates, Simon Hewitt Jones, Tom Hankey

CD: NMC Recordings

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) – Quartettino (1930)

1. Andante, 2. Poco adagio ma con moto, 3. Allegro molto vivace

Performers: Maggini Quartet

CD: Naxos

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) – Three Divertimenti (1936)

1. March, 2. Waltz, 3. Burlesque

Performers: Brodsky Quartet

CD: Challenge Records

Until the 1930s, there were two opposing currents in British music. On one hand, there were the traditionalists (not always in age, but in terms of their musical taste) who preferred the pastoral tone and the phantasies, which can be found in the music of Rebecca Clarke and Imogen Holst. On the other hand, there were composers who, despite the isolationism of the British Isles, were drawn to the music of late Gustav Mahler, young Schoenberg and very young Alban Berg, as well as that of Bartok and Hindemith. Benjamin Britten belonged to this second group.

The two separate movements for string quartet by Clarke were discovered in the archives after her death and have since been performed as Two Movements for String Quartet. This program also includes them. Holst’s Phantasy Quartet is a youthful work, as is Britten’s Quartettino. However, it sounds idiosyncratic, capricious, and modern. Britten’s Three Divertimenti were reportedly received with laughter and an icy silence at their premiere, according to the composer.