To the power of four
Maconchy loved the quartet medium as there was nowhere to hide
Elizabeth Maconchy’s 13 string quartets are not only superbly constructed examples of the artform, but also convey multiple layers of meaning, says Tom Service
Elizabeth Maconchy’s 13 string quartets belong at the centre of our musical lives. They should be at the heart of every string quartet’s repertoire, and at the core of concert hall promotion. They are musical experiences that we listeners need in our lives: these quartets have an expressive intensity and an unflinching musical integrity, and as such they are a unique revelation of what the string quartet can do.
Maconchy loved the string quartet as a medium because it represented a musical absolute, a way of composing in which there was nowhere to hide. Writing an essay on her 50-year relationship with writing quartets – from her first in 1933 to the 13th in
1984 – she asked the question: ‘What is it that has given [the string quartet] its exalted reputation and mystique? Why have so many composers regarded it as the perfect medium of expression?’ Her answer is a challenge: ‘Everything shows up: thinness of material, weakness of form, indifferent string writing, poor workmanship in general.’ They do in other composers’ quartets, but not in hers! She goes on: ‘The good things show up too – the strength of the ideas, masterly craftsmanship, resourceful string writing: think for a moment of Bartók’s six quartets and above all Beethoven’s 16, and marvel at what he did with four players.’
But think, above all, of what she achieves: another of Maconchy’s quartet-writing manifestos says: ‘It is in the nature of a quartet to be precise and economical – perfectly balanced. It follows that music written for it should be logical, arresting and clear-cut – there must be nothing superfluous.’ And in every moment of her 13 pieces, you hear a thrilling realisation of those ideals in action.
That means these pieces aren’t just challenging for the musicians, but for us listeners too. They’re nearly all less than 15 minutes long, but they each pack in more variety and richness than some quartet composers do in a whole lifetime. Maconchy’s music is made as an ‘impassioned argument’, as she says, between the four players, but they’re also invitations to all of us to get involved in these passionate musical discussions, so that we become another participant in their meaning.
They are pieces whose expressive power is dazzlingly diverse – from biting rhythmic energy to coruscatingly dark lyricism – and they can veer breathtakingly between one emotional pole and another in just a few seconds. These quartets repay a lifetime of listening and performing. Yet they have had only one complete recording, from the Hanson, Bingham and Mistry quartets in 1989. For all the excitement of those performances, there should be more. The story of the string quartet in the 20th century is incomplete without Maconchy’s 13 pieces: listen to them – and keep listening!