Karl Weigl (1881-1949) was Vienna born and raised of a well-to-do Jewish
family.  He received early musical training, associated with folks like
Schoenberg, Mahler, and Zemlinsky, and had a successful musical career
until the Nazis fully flexed their muscles.  In October 1938 Weigl managed
to flee to the U.S.  with his wife.  Subsequently, he gave music lessons
and had some teaching positions.  However, his life was never as full and
satisfying as it was in Vienna; Weigl had trouble adapting to his new home
and died in relative isolation.

Weigl was considered of the "old school" in that he never followed
Schoenberg's quest for non-tonal forms of musical expression.  Weigl's
music has the strong flavor of Vienna, and there are certainly romantic
elements to his compositions.  At the same time, even in 1904 when he
composed his String Quartet No.  1 in C minor, Opus 20, Weigl's music has
strong dissonance and a fine balance of the old and new.

Within the past few months, Nimbus has issued a disc of two Weigl string
quartets, his first and fifth, performed by the Artis Quartet which
recently recorded Zemlinsky's four string quartets for the same label.
The catalog number of the Weigl disc is NI 5646 and the performances were
recorded in December 1999.

Weigl's first quartet in C minor was composed in 1904.  Although the
composition had its supporters, the first public performance was not until
1925 in Vienna; the performers were the Kolbe Quartet.  This quartet is
very ambitious in scale, having four long movements and lasting over 44
minutes.  The work is highly thematic with a passacaglia bass-type motif
which permeates the entire composition.  The first movement, Allegro con
fuoco, is in sonata form and is outstanding music.  It has tension, power,
angst, dissonance, and some lovely Viennese melodic passages; in fact, the
movement is "Vienna" to the core.  This movement, for me, is the best of
what Vienna had to musically offer at the time - a very impressive
beginning to Weigl's first string quartet.

The second movement Adagio, in three parts with coda, is not quite at the
level of the first movement, but it is very rewarding except for a few
short passages which are highly romanticized.  The music is basically of
the brooding variety and is quite effective; the conclusion is stunning
and hushed.  The third movement, Furioso, greatly increases the degree
of dissonance found in the first two movements through its working of the
bass-type motif; there are lovely passages and some motorized sounding
dissonance.  Without giving away any secrets, the last two or so minutes of
this movement should surprise and delight most listeners.  This epilogue
leads directly into the fourth movement Andante moderato which is similar
to the second movement in terms of beauty and infrequent highly
romanticized passages.

Overall, I have fallen totally for Weigl's C minor Quartet.  Its blend of
old-fashioned Viennese lyricism and new-style effective dissonance is
exactly what I want out of late-romantic chamber music.

Weigl's 1904 composition was not at all old-fashioned for that time period.
However, when Schoenberg & his followers subsequently took a route veering
away from tonality, Weigl did not get on board.  He soon was considered a
"reactionary"; Weigl responded to these charges formally in 1920, but his
words were of no impact to the musical world of Vienna.

The String Quartet No. 5 in G major, Opus 31 was composed in 1933,
dedicated to the Busch Quartet, and premiered in 1934.  At 26 minutes in
length, this work is much more compact than the C minor of 1904.  Entirely
tonal, the melodic inventiveness and the development of the thematic
material are personal to Weigl's style, although still wedded to the
Viennese tradition.  Compared to the Opus 20 Quartet, Opus 31 is a sunny
work of agreeable and playful disposition.  The first and second movements
are exuberant and full of optimism.  The third movement Larghetto is
lovingly understated, and the fourth movement Allegro highlights the
playful nature of the work.  This string quartet is thoroughly delightful.
Unlike the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Weigl's Opus 31
could well provide the imagery of a moonlit night on Lake Lucerne.  This
is nothing but speculation, but the Opus 31 is the type of music I would
envision Mozart writing if he lived during that time period.

The performances by the Artis Quartet are excellent; I feel they have
well captured the core of Weigl's musical identity, and it would be hard
to imagine better readings.  However, there is a small problem in that the
sound becomes rather shrill at the loudest passages; that's likely the
sound as opposed to the performers.  I would advise listening close to the
volume controls.

Don's Conclusion:  The Weigl recording is one of the most enjoyable chamber
music discs I have acquired in the past few years.  Weigl is much more than
an excellent craftsman, and the two quartets on the disc are excellently
contrasted to provide a fine variety of expression.  Also, the cover art
is very appealing and the liner notes informative.  It's a first class
production all the way - buy it now!

Don Satz
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