“Breaking Waves” is the group’s latest recording for BIS and the repertoire they play is enterprising, which is what initially caught my eye. It features music by three female composers, of which I was familiar only with Bacewicz’s 4th String Quartet, but not in this new arrangement for string orchestra. So this disc was an opportunity to discover something new.
The program begins with a lovely piece by Welsh composer Grace Williams. She studied at the Royal Academy with Ralph Vaughan Williams and his influence can be heard often in her Sea Sketches. However, Grace Williams exhibits her own distinctive, individual voice – more Celtic in flavor and much less properly “British” than her teacher.
The suite is comprised of 5 fairly short sections, all highly descriptive and programmatic. This little gem demonstrates her to be a master of the miniature – with perfumed atmospheres, colorful harmony and orchestration, and vivid characterization. The opening, “High Wind”, immediately grabs our attention with agitated trilling and nervous vibrato, along with flurries and flourishes portraying a wind storm. However, it’s not furious or especially turbulent. This isn’t a hurricane, it’s just the wind; we don’t fear for anyone who finds themselves out on a boat in the midst of this storm. But it is energetic and engaging, and the playing exhibits this group’s signature sound – vibrant, dynamic and full-bodied – sounding like a larger body of strings than they really are.
“Sailing Song” brings a distinct contrast, with wonderful dynamic swells and fervent ebb-and-flow, recalling smooth sailing over restlessly undulating waves. In the 3rd section, “Channel Sirens,” the master himself (Vaughan Williams) makes a strong influence in its longing stillness, with pensive melodies full of anticipation.
“Breakers” (presto) returns to energetic turbulence, but not just flurries of wind and waves as before, but a real sense of impending danger. Now we do worry about anyone caught unawares out in the elements. But all seems to end well and the piece concludes with “Calm Sea in Summer”. Its tranquility is sheer loveliness in its portrayal of a smooth, clear, reflective surface with barely a ripple. All is calm and graceful, peaceful and meditative, adorned with a glorious, gently soaring violin tune above. The atmosphere builds as the melody expands with an almost rapturous pensiveness over a richly harmonic foundation which lingers in the minor, but finally emerges resplendently into major – all the while tinged with a sense of yearning. As the sun sets over the horizon, the music eases with resolve and peace, leaving the listener with a complete sense of satisfaction.
Grace Williams is a wonderful composer and her Sea Sketches deserves to be better known.1 The playing of it here by the OCO is marvelous, and the BIS recording compliments the group perfectly, embracing their warm, homogenous sound – though I detected just a bit of coarseness in the lower strings which was to persist to varying degrees throughout the program. But it is minor and doesn’t detract from the heartfelt music-making.
Next we have a bit of a novelty in the form of Bacewicz’s 4th String Quartet arranged for string orchestra, commissioned by the OCO. This particular Quartet has become quite popular lately, with YouTube videos cropping up everywhere and several CD recordings appearing just recently. So it is not surprising it would eventually show up in an arrangement for string orchestra.2 And it works surprisingly well, although I came away much preferring the original, for reasons described below.
The opening Andante is a bit matter of fact and less intimate and atmospheric than the original. But it soon builds into a rather romantic, richly harmonic and colorful rhapsody. I’m rather swept away by it, although it hardly resembles the original anymore – especially in the ensuing Allegro energico, which is just a tad sluggish and much less incisive than usual – affording it a symphonic grandiosity. In this regard, it reminds me of the DAFO Quartet’s 1999 recording of the original, which was made in a large, spacious, reverberant hall, which also tended to sound rather symphonic in nature. Both are a striking contrast to the very close-up, very detailed 2016 Chandos recording by the Silesian Quartet, which is so much lighter, transparent and more intimate, it almost sounds like a different piece. Nonetheless, the sheer drama the OCO generates is arresting, and I especially enjoyed how the solo cello provides a pronounced contrast to the tutti strings surrounding it.
The Andante, though, is surely too leisurely here – over a minute slower than the Silesians or the Telegraph Quartet on their new recording for Azica Records (review forthcoming). It is more of an adagio at this pace – heavier than ideal and losing some of its free-flowing intimacy. The music remains intriguingly temperamental played this way, but strays rather too far from the original, becoming something more than it is.
Similarly, the final Allegro giocoso is burdened with a touch of excess heaviness and smooth, rather than incisive, bowing. Thus it loses some of the essential giocoso element. It is played with vigor and enthusiasm, but I wish it was more agile and fleet (and more crisply articulated). Listening to the Telegraph Quartet’s recording, the music is instantly and refreshingly much more nimble – notably faster and more crisply articulate. They also play with a wider dynamic range, beginning at a true pianissimo, all to great effect.
So while this arrangement is interesting, I find it curious the OCO commissioned it when Bacewicz had composed 4 marvelous compositions specifically for string orchestra – a Divertimento, a Sinfonietta, a Concerto and a Symphony for strings (all of which can be found on two different releases from DUX Records). I suspect any of these pieces would have been a better fit for this group’s distinctive characteristics.
Finally, the concert closes with another string quartet arranged for string orchestra commissioned by this group. Johanna Muller-Hermann was an exact contemporary of Richard Strauss and studied in Vienna with Zemlinsky, to whom this work was dedicated. Interestingly, I hear rather more Strauss than Zemlinsky in this arrangement of her one and only string quartet. (And I suspect the original would sound just the opposite.)
The opening Moderato starts with sweetly singing 1st violins, but as the music gets going, that bit of coarseness heard earlier in the cellos again calls attention to itself – adding a touch of Germanic intensity which doesn’t seem particularly suited to the piece.3 And not unlike the opening of the Bacewicz, there is a bit of heaviness (even thickness) here, which alone may be the reason it tends to evoke Strauss more than Zemlinsky. I suspect the original string quartet has more inherent light-and-shade transparency to it. The 2nd movement Allegro vivace similarly feels a bit heavy and slow for a vivace, vaguely recalling Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel. And again I wonder if the original would be more vivacious and articulate.
The Adagio then is positively Wagnerian in its scope and temperament, lasting more than 7 minutes. But the final Allegro con spirito perks up nicely – delightful and a bit playful, building to an exciting finish.
I can only find one recording of the original String Quartet (appropriately coupled with the 3rd and 4th by Zemlinsky) on a 1998 Nimbus release played by the Artis Quartet. I’d like to acquire that CD for comparative purposes to hear if my hunches are confirmed. And I suspect I’ll appreciate it even more.
In the end, this is an enjoyable and rewarding program of unusual repertoire, played by a very accomplished ensemble which possesses a slightly different sound than the typical chamber orchestra. I definitely enjoyed the works most to least in the order in which they are presented on this disc. The Williams is wonderful in every way, and beautifully played. As for the two arrangements, the Bacewicz seems to work better than the Muller-Hermann in this guise, but I will always prefer the originals over these – especially as played here with smooth articulation and an intentional richness which doesn’t necessarily enhance the essential nature of the works.
The BIS production is exemplary, as to be expected, including an informative booklet and excellent recorded SACD sound. And despite my minor reservations, I highly recommend it.
1 There is a 2024 recording of it by the BBC Philharmonic on Resonus Classics, which irritatingly appears to be available only via digital download. Sigh.
2 Similarly, there is an arrangement of Fazil Say’s String Quartet (“Divorce”) on YouTube, which is terrifically effective.
3 The booklet tells us this piece was recorded in a different hall from the other two, which would tend to confirm this is a realistic representation of the sound of this group, ruling out the recording itself as being the source of the coarseness in the cellos.
.png?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "A destroyed and partially rebuilt city - Sven Helbig’s 'Requiem A' receives its UK Premiere at Central Hall Westminster")
,%20Flores%20(Issicratea)%20©%20Clemens%20Manser%20Photography.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "Photo essay: Cavalli's Pompeo Magno at the 2025 Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival")
