Since the spring I have been trying to listen to as much of Walton's music
and that of Malcolm Arnold as I can.  I am interested in the similarities
and differences between these two composers (who I would cautiously suggest
may be "under-rated") and the more well known Britten, Vaughan WIlliams and
Elgar.

A quotation by Hans Keller in the liner notes to one of the Arnold
Symphonies suggests a possible explanation:  "Arnold's profundity usually
manages itself in pseudo-shallowness--which is his historical inversion of
pseudo-depth."

In any event, to Walton's chamber music.  I picked up a disc from Berkshire
on Meridian, which my listening suggests is probably neither the best
recording nor the best playing of this program:  the Piano Quartet and the
String Quartet in A minor.

However, both pieces are very worthwhile and definitely add to the picture
of the composer's vision.  The Piano Quartet struck me as an excellent
example of a couple of important aspects of 20th century music.  It is
without a home key and spends most of its time trying to find a resting
place, succeeding only in the last measures.  Also, it does not have
lengthy themes stated and then developed; rather, from the opening measures
fragmentary themes force themselves into the consciousness and are "played
with" through each movement of the piece.  As I suggested, I felt it as a
series of statements (everything from chorale to a jazzy piano part in the
fourth movement) of yearning for home--resolved only at the end.  (Did
Walton listen to jazz or am I just hearing it because I do?)

The String Quartet seems, overall, a less adventuresome piece.  However, it
is a "must have," and will be on my CD player often, because of a wonderful
slow movement.  The third of four movements in the piece, this Lento seems
to be the base upon which the whole piece rests.  At 9' 39 it is as long as
the two surrounding movements combined and almost matches the length of the
ten minute first movement.

I am thoroughly enjoying discovering that there is much "tang" to be found
in English music.

"Ed Zubrow" <[log in to unmask]>