String Quartet/Piano Quintet

The piano quintet is particularly interesting. The eery first movement is said to have been inspired by "the reminiscence of sinister trees", in Alice Elgar's words, referring to a cluster of lightning-mangled trees near Elgar's cottage in Sussex. Legend has it that they were the gnarled figures of a settlement of Spanish monks blasted by heaven as punishment for their "impious rites". Drawing on the myth, Elgar wove in a couple of haunting Spanish motifs, including a place where the first violin imitates a guitar by playing in pizzicato. The quintet's dark opening movement is followed by a soothing adagio, definitely inspired by sunnier memories and places, which gives way in turn to a thunderous andante-allegro in a major key (which I think is rather overbearing, coming right after the quiet second movement).

What's interesting about this performance is that the Maggini Quartet uses 17th- and 18th-century instruments (hence the name -- Giovanni Paolo Maggini was a Brescian violin-maker of the early 1600s.) It has a neat effect, though you can't always tell the difference. Kudos, Naxos.

Considering their stature, these late and deeply characteristic pieces do not seem to be recorded very much. Both of them, particularly the quintet, seem to me even finer than the violin sonata that he wrote at around the same time, and I thought myself lucky to find so easily on one CD
performances worthy of my LP versions by the Claremont in the quartet and Ogdon and the Allegri in the quintet. To judge by broadcast versions that I have heard, the quintet seems to be a difficult work to bring off successfully -- the piano writing tends to sound square and awkward. Not so from Ogdon, not so from Donohoe. If pushed to a choice, my vote would probably still go to Ogdon and the Allegri for a slightly greater sense of impetus in the first movement, but nobody looking for a current version need hesitate about getting this one, especially if they want to hear a great soulful Elgarian climax in the slow movement -- a great moment on this record. In the quartet again the Maggini strike me as 'just right' and certainly as a thoroughly recommendable version for anyone just getting to know the piece. The Claremont version does not seem to be available now, and it is notable for a very adventurous account of the slow movement, taken at a very flowing tempo indeed. I have always reacted particularly positively to this performance which among other things recalls strongly the movement's obvious source of inspiration -- the marvellous andante of Brahms's A minor quartet. However the tempo the composer indicated is 'poco andante', and the Claremont give it at something more like 'molto andante', so while I still recommend collectors to keep a lookout in the hope that it will be reissued it may not be right for everyone.

The booklet when talking about the quintet gives some picturesque Lovecraftian detail about ghostly trees haunted by impious monks and whatnot. While I am glad to know all this, it never crosses my mind as I listen to pure music of this order. What does cross my mind is how well the quintet's finale negotiates the familiar late-romantic minefield of 'cyclical form' -- sc. bringing back themes from an earlier movement. Brahms's third symphony has a lot a lot to answer for here when I think of some of the shuddersome finales that picked up on the device. This one is lovely, resigned and autumnal, not quite Elgar's last musical word but getting on that way, and rendered here with a touching understanding that has more to say to me than any ghostly legends.