Scott Cantrell

A-String Quartets Nos. 1-4. Ives Quartet (Naxos)

NEGLECTED HERITAGE: The neglect of important and engaging mainstream American music from earlier in the 20th century is a scandal. We get Copland and Barber, of course, but when was the last time you heard a piece of Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, Vincent Persichetti or Peter Mennin in concert?

FROM YALE TO YALE: Three years older than Copland, Connecticut native Quincy Porter (1897-1966) studied with Horatio Parker (as did Ives) at Yale, with Vincent d'Indy in Paris and Ernest Bloch in New York and Cleveland. Alongside composing, he taught at Cleveland, Vassar and the New England Conservatory, finally returning to Yale.

FLUENT, COSMOPOLITAN: This recording of the first four of Porter's nine string quartets certainly whets the appetite for the rest and for more of his considerable oeuvre. Porter was a capable violist himself, and his writing is skilled and idiomatic. At various times, you may be reminded of Bartók, maybe Shostakovich or one of the more cosmopolitan English composers, like Frank Bridge.

BOTTOM LINE: Attractive, engaging works, well-played and well-recorded.

Scott Cantrell

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