John Ireland - String Quartets (Maggini Quartet)

Information

Composer: John Ireland

• (01-04) String Quartet No 1 in D minor
• (05)      The Holy Boy
• (06-09) String Quartet No 2 in C minor

Maggini Quartet
Laurence Jackson, violin
David Angel, violin
Martin Outram, viola
Michal Kaznowski, cello

Date: 2006
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557777

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

Ireland's student works 'as dull as dishwater'? Here's a disc that will make you think again

John Ireland was just 14 when he entered London’s Royal College of Music to study piano with Frederick Cliffe. Two years later, the precocious teenager became the youngest person to rise to the rank of Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. However, his greatest wish was to study composition and it appears he completed his D minor Quartet in March 1897 with the hope of impressing his hero, Stanford. Even though he initially rejected the work out of hand (‘dull as ditchwater, m’ bhoy’), Stanford arranged for a performance which in turn led to the college’s director, Parry, awarding Ireland a four-year scholarship. Its more ambitious C minor companion followed within six months, but Ireland never returned to the medium.

Having been less than entranced by these student efforts on an earlier release by the Holywell Ensemble (ASV, 6/99), the prospect of hearing them again did not exactly fill me with relish. So hats off to the Maggini Quartet, who deliver performances of such infectious conviction, purposefulness and poise as to force me into a re-evaluation. Granted, neither work contains the slightest vestige of the composer’s mature voice (the 18-year-old had obviously been studying and listening to his Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Dvorák) but the writing is supremely confident and Ireland’s mellifluous inspiration never threatens to outstay its welcome, especially when championed as eloquently as here. Sandwiched between the quartets comes The Holy Boy, one of Ireland’s sweetest melodies and raptly ‘sung’ by the Magginis. The Potton Hall sound is admirably clean and true, the balance expertly judged.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=134443
http://www.classical-music.com/review/ireland-9
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Aug06/Ireland_Maggini_8557777.htm
https://www.allmusic.com/album/ireland-string-quartets-the-holy-boy-mw0001394840
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.557777&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.co.uk/String-Quartets-IRELAND/dp/B000FGGKHG

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Ireland (13 August 1879 – 12 June 1962) was an English composer and teacher of classical music. He studied piano with Frederic Cliffe and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. He was strongly influenced by Debussy and Ravel as well as by the earlier works of Stravinsky and Bartók. From these influences, he developed his own brand of "English Impressionism", related more closely to French and Russian models than to the folk-song style then prevailing in English music. Ireland favoured small forms and wrote neither symphonies nor operas, although his Piano Concerto is considered among his best works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ireland_(composer)

***

The Maggini Quartet is a British string quartet, formed in 1988. The Quartet's name derives from the famous 16th century Brescian violin maker Giovanni Paolo Maggini. Maggini Quartet is known for championing the British repertoire, and has made many CD recordings published through publishers such as Naxos Records. In addition to their concert activity, the members of the Quartet have an international reputation as chamber music coaches. Its current members are Julian Leaper (Violin 1), David Angel (Violin 2), Martin Outram (Viola) and Michal Kaznowski (Cello).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggini_Quartet
http://maggini.net/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!