I am delighted that such local luminaries as Dr. Chasan and Richard
Todd esteem the work of the late Dr. Robert Simpson.  Although I've
heard none of his symphonies, I've spent a fair amount of time listening,
with increasing appreciation coupled with no small amount of confusion, to
his string quartets.  I might even say I find them intriguing more than
enjoyable; nevertheless, I keep returning to them, even more than my
stalwart Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert and Smetana quartets.

But I do not post merely to extol his music: I have a question.  Simpson
was intrigued with palindromes (one might as well say that Einstein was
intrigued with time, or Feynman intrigued with, well, anything).  His
mighty 9th string quartet is just one example.  The quartet starts with
a theme from Haydn's Symphony #47, rendered quite beautifully by Simpson
(hey, the man could write good music when he chose!).  It then descends
(degenerates??) into 33 variations plus a complex fugue that I have no
doubt would have left "Theme and Variation" Haydn perplexed.  According to
the liner notes, each of the variations is a palindrome.  Not content with
that, Simpson made the entire quartet a palindrome.  I think Simpson must
have been very smart: that strikes me as a hideously complex undertaking,
but probably one that only a mad dog or an Englishman would undertake.
I suppose I can understand being fascinated with palindromes: they are
important in crytography and essential in biology.  I'm just not sure of
their musical significance.

Now to my question.  Is there any musical significance to writing in
palindromes? My tin ears certainly could not identify that any one of
Simpson's variations in his ninth quartet are palindromes, let alone the
entire quartet, which runs nearly an hour.  Is writing in palindromes
simply a curious challenge that Simpson made for himself? Why should a
composer set such a constraint upon himself: simply for the intellectual
challege of writing a palindrome that sounds, well, musical? Why should a
listener care if it's a palindrome? Is anyone's appreciation of the music
enhanced by the fact that music is a palindrome? I find it all very
puzzling, but nonetheless intriguing.

By the way, if you are interested in buying any of his quartets from
hyperion, I have heard that some of them are going out of print.  Hyperion
made some superb recordings of them, so those inclined to follow up might
want to purchase some while they are still available.  Unless historic
recordings are "your thing", I would avoid the recording of the early
quartets by the Element String Quartet.  I don't doubt it was a fine
quartet, but the recordings, made in the early 60's on acetate film and
later digitized are markedly inferior to contemporary recording techniques.

Finally, Dunelm Records has recorded a presentation by one Malcolm
MacDonald entitled "An introduction to the string quartets of Robert
Simpson".  (Dunelm can be reached at [log in to unmask]).  I found
it to be an enjoyable & instructive description of what was to me a novel
music, although I think some on this list would find it a bit rudimentary.
One just has to keep in mind its intended audience: Americans might relate
to it if I say that it's on the level of Karl Haas' "Adventures in Good
Music" on National Public Radio.

In any case, I expect to feast for decades on the legacy that Robert
Simpson left in the form of the string quartet.  And if anyone hears of
live performances within, say, 400 miles of Washington D.C., I'd appreciate
a notice.  I think I'm making it a personal pursuit to hear some of this
music live.

P.S.  to non-English speakers on this list.  A palindrome is a sequence
that reads the same way forward and backward: e.g.  "Madam I'm Adam".  In
a nod to Napolean one might write, "Able was I ere I saw Elba", which can
be used as a template for numerous copies, such as, in a nod toward the
American fundamentalist preacher Oral Roberts, "Slut was I ere I saw
Tulsa"!

Larry