Concert Review: The Hugo Wolf Quartett—

An Afternoon In Old — And New — Vienna

By Wendy Wipprecht

In this terrible economy, an escape is just what we need.

Unfortunately we can’t just hop over to Europe. So how can we get away from a worldwide financial disaster? A musical trip to Vienna might help.

Last Sunday afternoon, Newtown Friends of Music brought the Hugo Wolf Quartett to Edmond Town Hall for the third concert of this season’s chamber music series. This group was formed in Vienna in 1993 and was named in honor of a Viennese composer. The composers on the program of March 1 were both associated with that city, and the encore might be described  as quintessentially Viennese.

The program itself was unusual and quite elegant in that it combined two Haydn string quartets with a piece by a contemporary Austrian composer that is so new it hasn’t yet been given a title.

Haydn is generally held to be the inventor of the string quartet, and also of the symphony. He was incredibly prolific (a list of his major works includes 106 symphonies, 79 string quartets, 41 piano trios, 54 piano sonatas, 16 operas, 13 masses, three oratorios, and much more), and also kept innovating throughout his long career, even after having achieved popular success.

It’s easy to see why Haydn would be a model for a young composer who is fluent in more than one musical language.

Sunday’s concert began with Haydn’s String Quartet No 29 in G Major, Op 33, No 5.

There is a lot of playfulness and fun in this quartet. The third movement, the Scherzo, sounds like a folk dance performed by clumsy people. The theme and variations in the fourth movement, the Finale, seem to be performed at ever-increasing speeds.

One of the variations seems to set a challenge to the cellist: How fast can you play this independent melody while the others are playing yet another variation? Florian Berner rose to the occasion brilliantly.

The section marked Largo e cantabile was a revelation: It’s not just a first violin solo with accompaniment from the other strings. It’s like an aria, dramatic and highly emotional, and it was played very beautifully by first violinist Sebastian Gürtler.

Haydn was called “Papa Haydn” by the musicians he supervised at Prince Esterházy’s. He is also the father of two musical genres and, because of his seemingly endless creativity, sustained throughout his long career, an inspiration for many generations of composers.

One of these would have to be the contemporary Austrian composer Wolfgang Muthspiel, who was born in 1965 and wrote the piece that Sunday’s program notes called “To be named – world premiere” (As of this writing, its title is First String Quartet).

To hear — and also, of course, to play — a piece of music that is entirely new is an adventure and a challenge. The piece begins with a set of long-held dissonant chords that send a clear signal: You are now listening to a contemporary work. Those chords seem to open up a space for careful listening and meditation.

Playing against more classical forms and gestures were blue notes, a rock bass line, and a jazzy solo for the first violin.

The second movement is faster and less dissonant, sounding like updated Haydn, an impression confirmed by Muthspiel, who has said he has revisted the composer’s quartets.

The cello predominates the third movement, making high pitched, eerie sounds that produce an air of mystery.

The piece was written for The Hugo Wolf Quartett, so it was designed to reflect the strengths of the musicians, to demonstrate that they can play music from both the 18th and 21st Centuries. What a privilege it is to hear something totally new, played by the group for whom it was written!

The concert concluded with Haydn’s String Quartet Op 77, No 1, in G Major.  The first movement, Allegro moderato, takes a simple, sprightly theme and then returns to it many times, each time elaborating upon it in a different way. The movement gives an impression of playful invention; it is never labored.

The next movement, Adagio, features a melodic solo for the first violin, to which the other players provide the accompaniment.

The minuet of the third movement, marked Presto, is not the stately dance we know. It’s a very fast dance, perhaps a spirited folk dance.

The Finale, also marked Presto, also elaborated on a cheerful, simply sounding theme. With every return the movement seems to be going faster and faster, demanding, and eliciting, some truly furious fiddling.

The Hugo Wolf Quartett — which also includes the violinist Régis Bringolf and the violist Gertrud Weinmeister — is so beautifully balanced and technically proficient that probably only other string players can fully recognize how gracefully and completely they accomplish their difficult tasks.

For its encore, the quartet returned to its Viennese roots once more, playing an arrangement for string quartet of music from Die Fledermaus. The arranger was the first violinist and the performance was a delight, the perfect dessert to a perfect meal.

The melodies are familiar to everyone, and as welcome as an old friend. The Hugo Wolf Quartett played the piece with grace, with, a lush sound, and just the right amount of schmaltz.