As the disc of his Second and Third Piano Trios (Timbre) indicated, Ian Wilson is a composer of imaginative resource and a sure formal sense, his music lacking little in personality.
The viola melody near the beginning of the compact First Quartet (a work inspired by the life of St Paul) denotes the oblique lyricism and deceptive forward motion typical of Wilson’s music as a whole. A halting, Stravinskian rhythmic motion provides necessary contrast, while the opening discord comes into dramatic focus at several points during this ruminative, even melancholic work.
Quartet No 2 draws on work by the Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti for its five short movements, which are strongly contrasted in character. The emotional range expands to take account of this, taking in the Schnittke-like anguish of ‘The Capsizing Man’, the nocturnal unease of ‘The Forest’, the distantly Sibelian impetus of ‘The Chariot’, and, after the Feldman-like reticence of ‘The Seated Woman’, a whimsical finale in ‘The Cat’.
Grinding chords launch the ambitious (28-minute) Third Quartet. Here the inspiration, seven paintings by Paul Klee, is integrated into the ongoing formal evolution, with several well-defined ideas developed in an eloquent discourse which periodically recalls the quartet writing of Robert Simpson. The ingenuity with which Wilson maintains dramatic tension ensures that the tranquil close casts a powerful spell in context.
Perceptive performances by the Vanbrughs and a well-nigh perfect quartet balance make this a disc well worth the attention of open-minded quartets and listeners alike.'