The Coull Quartet have often played Nicholas Maw’s Third Quartet since giving its premiere in 1995, and this recording – in exceptionally lucid sound – testifies to their mastery of its tricky technical details and their sensitivity to its expressive character.

It begins in a spirit of restless lyricism which builds compellingly, eloquence and drama intensifying in ways which place the music firmly in the tradition of Berg and Bartók without any hint of abject dependency. The work is crowned by a concluding passacaglia which creates tension from the superimposition of contrasting layers of texture before reaching a climax with a unison line for all four players, a moment of revelation which subsides into a regretful resolution.

The chordal material at the end hints at the opening of Maw’s later opera Sophie’s Choice, and this is one reason why the ideal coupling for the quartet would have been the recent string sextet in which Maw uses material from the opera. The sextet probably wasn’t complete when this recording was planned, however, and the Coull have chosen a quartet, Britten’s Third, which has certain stylistic and formal features in common with Maw’s.

Britten; Maw String Quartets

String Quartet No 3

String Quartet No. 3

(3) Divertimentos