Day 214
Soulima Stravinsky: String quartet no 1
Quatuor de Calarmont
Soulima Stravinsky was the third child of Stravinsky and his first wide. I knew that he was a pianist - he made some recordings with his father and separately of his father’s music but somehow I had only thought that he wrote pedagogical music for children. I got that wrong because he did write some other music including three string quartets.
I really enjoyed this first quartet - it would stand on its own regardless of the family connection. It is in three quite short movements, well constructed with a clear musical argument. I would describe the idiom as like mild Prokofiev with a touch of French overlay. It uses ostinato techniques very effectively and has some attractive textural effects, include some interesting use of harmonics. All in all a good piece which many more famous composers would have been pleased to have written.
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