Until recently, Scotland's legacy of chamber music, representing composers from the eighteenth century to the present day, has remained largely unrecorded. Despite many live performances and broadcasts within the UK and abroad, it is only now that, on the Meridian label, this situation is being redressed.
The Edinburgh Quartet's first release (CDE84445) included one of a series of fine quartets by Thomas Erskine, Earl of Kelly, who was a colourful and brilliant figure in Edinburgh's musical life in the mid-eighteenth century. Victorian years were represented by the only quartet to be written by Alexander C Mackenzie. This is the work of a young man recently returned from study and work in Germany, who was later to become Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in London and a composer revered by many, including Edward Elgar.
John Blackwood McEwen's attractive "Biscay" Quartet received its debut recording on this disc (also becoming a regular favourite in the EQ's concert programmes), as did Thomas Wilson's Quartet No 4 (1978). The Wilson, commissioned by the Edinburgh Quartet, had been premiered on BBC TV and subsequently frequently performed and broadcast.
Kenneth Leighton was Reid Professor of Music at Edinburgh University from the early 1970s until his untimely death. The Edinburgh Quartet worked constantly alongside him during this period, either preparing performances of his quartets or collaborating in concerts and tours of his great Piano Quintet Op34. A favourite memory lingers of touring South West Scotland and Arran, when Kenneth shared with the quartet the tribulations and hilarious joys of a life on the road, as audiences were treated to readings of his own Quintet and that of Robert Schumann. It is good to have recorded Quartets 1 and 2 with Seven Variations (CDE84460), as well as the Piano Trio, Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet with Robert Markham (CDE84465). Let's hope that at last this wonderful music will reach the wider audience it deserves.
There is no doubt that residence north of the border can result in a musician placing him or herself somewhat out of reach of the eye of the wider world's media. This was true for example of the Czech Shetky, who became a leading light in the Edinburgh Society of Musicians in the late eighteenth century, subsequently to sink more or less without trace (but hopefully soon to be triumphantly revived by the EQ). Maybe this is less true of the prodigiously gifted and hugely distinguished Hans Gal, a Viennese composer and musician who, on finding his position as Principal of the Conservatoire at Mainz no longer tenable in the 1930s, was persuaded by then Reid Professor Donald Tovey to settle in Edinburgh. Dr Gal, with his rigorously disciplined approach allied to a delightful humour and compassion, was an inspiration to all fortunate enough to be near him, not least the Edinburgh Quartet in its regular performances of his quartets and quintets. A morning's study with Hans, sometimes preparing a work for a premier performance, was followed by lively society and an excellent lunch provided by his wife Hannah - certainly a highlight of the musical year. It is delightful to have recorded these pieces (CDE84530). Quartets 1 & 4, with Improvisation, Variations and Finale on a theme of Mozart, are already "in the can", with the rest to follow.
- MHB
