I present another work from the "Intuitive Factory" to be ignored or listened to as you see fit. This time it's a rather neoclassical string quartet which is officially actually in C major, though this key first appears only in the second subject recapitulation in the slow movement with the first being in C minor -- only the finale which is just a variation of the main theme of the first movement, is in the target key
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just in case anyone's interested, I invested in the new VSL violin and cello and have redone the rendering (though the viola has not yet been released so remains the same). I feel the rendering -- despite some things still be looked at -- now sounds overall considerably more musical whatever anyone might think of the piece itself.
Obviously the tiny number of people still participating here either haven't seen this or didn't like it. But anyway, the VSL solo strings are now complete and I wasted no time in updating and revising this work which definitely now has a more dynamic rendering than before. Same location!
Definitely another must listen for me when I have time (in addition to your Apollinaire settings), as I was very impressed with this work in its previous incarnation. Unfortunately I am still in the process of moving, so it might be a few days still.
No rush, Liz -- obviously your move has priority! Hope it's going well?
I'll reply by email when I get a chance, David, but the short of it is, this is the toughest and most tiring move I've ever made, and there are real problems at the new place. It's going to take a while to sort it all out...
David, I've listened twice now to the new version of your quartet, and I think it's just splendid. I struggle to make up pmy mind whether the rendering is significantly better - on my first listen, I felt that the playing was excessively "on the beat", or perhaps it was more that all the attacks were rendered the same in some passages. The second time around this didn't bother me in the least, as I was totally captivated by the wonderful lyricism and rhythmically quite intricate part-writing. Two impressions were unchanged on second listen: first,, that the new version has greater clarity, so that ut's much easier now for the ear to pick out exactly what's happening in that intricate part-writing sans score; snd second, that the ending works much better now. Some might complain that it's a bit unprepared and anticlimactic, rather like the ending of Holmboe's last Chamber Concerto (#13, for oboe and viola with chamber orchestra) - but I like that ending too.
the main changes to the new version -- apart from the new instruments -- are the increased use of dynamic contrasts and vibrato. I tried to make the rendering more lifelike, though there is still a good deal more which could be done in this direction given infinite time and patience which I don't have. Anyway, I suspect we're now on the same page on the ending. There are endings in my work of uninhibited jubilation (such as the 2nd piano trio which is among my best fast finales imho) but I often prefer a note of ambiguity I have to admit.
As for Holmboe, I first investigated him a long time ago when living in Sweden but never entirely got to grips. Any tentative further attempts tended to leave the impression of admirable and noble work which just lacked something in melodic individuality. But I guess it's time for a more serious survey at some point and i could start with that chamber concerto perhaps.
Holmboe is really not primarily a melodist. I agree there - particularly in his works written after the period of the 9th and 10th Symphonies - starting around the time of his 11th String Quartet - his works are all founded on themes and motifs that sound all to be related to each other in some way. So the interest is in how he uses them in development, rather than the lyricism. Increasingly in his later years his music became less modernistic in idiom as well, tending toward modal scales and an almost Palestrina-like lack of dissonance that makes that part of his output less interesting to me. I find the works from his early and middle periods much more interesting, and the 13th chamber concerto is a middle period work from a very productive time in his creative output.
Anyway there is little in common between your quartet and the Holmboe except that the last movement has a similarly "ambiguous" ending, in that it resolves without building up to a grand conclusion. Another work that comes to mind for the same reason is the Sibelius 3rd Symphony.