Johm Wiser writes:

>Many years ago, after the First Quartet had concluded a chamber music
>concert by a now-unremembered quartet, a composer friend of mine rolled his
>eyes at me and remarked, "Three-quarters of an hour of nonstop arrogance!"
>
>There's a kernel of truth in that thumbnail judgement, but the music
>remains worth experiencing.

I agree completely - it is as if Schoenberg was driven to include
everything he had learned from his teachers, from all previous music, and
from his own experience. And there is something driven and urgent about the
music - which is of course a young composer's work. It may be arrogant but
there is something touching as well in this spreading of wings!
The Lark Quartet couples this work with an intense and eloquent quartet by
Zemlinsky written in memory of Alban Berg - a fine cd.

"Bernard Chasan" <[log in to unmask]>