Mesmerising accounts of works originally written for the Kronos
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS
The Strad Issue: March 2025
Description: Mesmerising accounts of works originally written for the Kronos
Musicians: Silesian Quartet
Works: Górecki: String Quartets nos.1–3; Five Kurpian Songs (arr. string quartet)
Catalogue number: Chandos CHAN20383
Górecki’s musical style seems to have absorbed the traditions and turbulence of his Polish homeland, fusing Renaissance timbres within a modern context by creating beautiful – sometimes painfully so – timbres. His inspiration in terms of Western influences lies with Beethoven and Szymanowski, yet the folk music of the Tatra Mountains can be heard too.
These works were originally written for the Kronos Quartet, but their vernacular and sentiment are just as powerfully conveyed by the Silesian Quartet, which gives lean yet nuanced readings, supported by excellent recorded sound. The music ranges from an ethereal melancholy to writing that is hard-hitting and raw, with brazenly reiterated fifths. Sample the opening movement of the Second Quartet, intoned with a single cello note, over which the dialogues gradually build to a mood of heartfelt poignancy.
In contrast, insistently urgent and aggressive chords bite into the textures of the second movement, qualities which are brilliantly dramatised in this interpretation. The Third Quartet’s Allegro is more contrapuntally orientated and rhythmically punchy; vividly conveyed, while a late-Romantic hue graces the ensuing movement. Here, the Silesian Quartet’s warm timbre reflects this richer language.
The arrangement of the vocal pieces for string quartet are hypnotic – simple, sad, elegant and concise – seeming to echo the suffering nationhood that is conveyed in the quartets. Altogether, a breathtakingly perceptive release.
JOANNE TALBOT
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