Bernard Stevens Chamber Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Bernard (George) Stevens
Label: Unicorn-Kanchana
Magazine Review Date: 6/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: DKPCD9097
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Theme and Variations |
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer DelmÉ Qt |
String Quartet No. 2 |
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer DelmÉ Qt |
Lyric Suite |
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer DelmÉ Qt |
Composer or Director: Bernard (George) Stevens
Label: Unicorn-Kanchana
Magazine Review Date: 6/1991
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: DKPC9097
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Theme and Variations |
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer DelmÉ Qt |
String Quartet No. 2 |
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer DelmÉ Qt |
Lyric Suite |
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer
Bernard (George) Stevens, Composer DelmÉ Qt |
Author: Stephen Johnson
Still doubtful? Then try and persuade your record dealer to play track 1 from 4'44''—i.e. Var. 5 of Op. 11. This is Stevens at his most appealing: a restrained but very expressive instrumental song, simply accompanied (though not so simply as it first appears), with the singing line elegantly distributed between the four voices. If possible, let the music run on into the scherzo-like sixth variation: as before, it's easy to tell that this is roughly contemporary with the First and Second Quartets of Britten, or the first three of Tippett, but the flavour is quite different—more inward-looking, perhaps, but certainly no less subtle or imaginative. Stevens has often (perhaps too often) been compared to Edmund Rubbra, but I find his quartet-writing on the whole more satisfying than Rubbra's; that sixth variation highlights one important difference—Stevens's counterpoint often dances where Rubbra's merely labours.
The best plan for investigating these three works is to follow the ordering on the disc. The Theme and Variations is the most accessible, the Trio the most introspective and difficult to grasp at first hearing, while the Second Quartet is probably the finest and certainly the most demanding. As with the Variations and the Trio, everything is derived from the opening material, yet there still seem more than enough ideas to fill the work's 27-minute span. And throughout this disc the performances are splendid: the Delme Quartet has obviously developed a strong communal feeling for Stevens's quartet style, and the clear, beautifully-balanced recording does it full justice. There have been a few small textural adjustments in the Trio (some of Stevens's octave doublestopping is a little awkward) but if anything these make for more clarity and remove any sense—obviously not intended by the composer—of strain. An altogether outstanding disc—and of all the Bernard Stevens discs so far, the one that puts his case most forcefully.'
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