William Walton’s Piano Quartet is an early work, influenced by the likes of Elgar, Ravel, and Vaughan Williams. The music is wholly lovely and it’s a mystery to me that the piece isn’t better known. Probably it’s just hard to find a coupling on disc, and the composer of course wasn’t famous for his chamber music. The String Quartet illustrates why. Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with the music as such. It sounds like vintage, mature Walton: jazzy, full of angular syncopations, astringent harmonies, and bittersweet lyricism. There’s just no reason at all why this is a composition for four strings (despite the obligatory fugato here and there). The finale, for example, goes on for pages in simple “tune with accompaniment” fashion, while the composer’s love of complex chords of more than three notes means that the players spend a good deal of time double-stopping. It’s no wonder that the composer arranged this piece for full string orchestra, where, as Sonata for Strings, it has achieved a measure of familiarity. My reservations about the work itself, however, shouldn’t detract from the accomplishment of the players on this particular disc. Pianist Peter Donohoe and the Maggini Quartet turn in fine performances of both pieces, and anyone who enjoys Walton will certainly want to explore them.
