# Delius - String Quartet (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Delius began to write his String Quartet in the spring of 1916 and completed the first 3 movement version of the work in June. It received its premiere by the London String Quartet later thst year with Albert Sammonds as the principal violin. The Musical Times wrote that it was 'a serious contribution to musical art-the most important, in fact, that has been heard in London during the present season'. Delius wasn't happy with the score, though, and revised it in 1917, restyling and altering the outer movements, adding a scherzo (drawing on material from an earlier unfinished quartet written around 1888), and completely recomposed the Late Swallow movement.

The quartet begins slowly. The opening movement 'With animation' starts moderately and then gathers momentum as it unfolds. The second subject is a brief melody, heard in the first violin and viola and then submerged underneath. The movement twice reaches a climax before disappearing solemnly.

The outer sections of the scherzo are Mendelssohnian and bouyantly rhythmic. The 3rd slow movement, Late Swallows, is begins achingly, then gathers momentum with greater dynamic intensity. The first violin's lovely ostinato in the middle section (which reminds me of the tone poem In a Summer Garden) gives way to a melody very similar to one from the Florida suite. Then the finale with its busy, friendly nature and fine textures rounds off things nicely and it all ends with a cadence.

Btw, Delius didn't destroy the first (three-movement) version of his quartet, and the autograph score, sketches, and an incomplete set of copied parts are held in the British Library. There are some differences structurally in the Villiers Quartet account based around the Late Swallow movement (which I'll discuss in my round-up). Not many recordings of this one so I'll give a brief overview of them all.






*Recommended*

*Britten* - solidly-played and realised. Possibly the weakest performance of the group but still worth recommending.
*Brodsky* - coupled with a recommended Elgar recording the Brodskys play with a nice range of dynamics and are particularly distinhurd in their final movement, which has good drive and snap. 
*Bridge* - coupled with a killer Grieg quartet (from their Free Spirits cd) there's good tone and unity in the abridge Quartet's reading. Another nice alternative for those that maybe won't be able to stomach my top pick. 
*Villiers* - this account (which Naxos gave a lovely cover) is well-recorded and unfussy. The Villiers make nice noises in the Late Swallows movement especially. You also get a reassembled performance of the original 1916 version of the Late Swallow movement for comparison. Highly recommended.

*Top Pick*

*Fitzwilliam* - this closely-miked, turbulent 1978 recording rarely disappears from the catalogue and remains the most interesting, propulsive and hefty performance here. Those who like their Delius more whimsically played should look at the alternatives but not me. In other's hands I always find the Delius Quartet a tiny touch on the twee side (even though I still enjoy it), however the arresting quality of the Fitzwilliams account is the one I'm most likely to return to. The opening movement is a tour fe force and there's little swooning over-sentimentality on show even in the 3rd movement. A classic.


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