The San Francisco-based
Del Sol String Quartet specializes in contemporary and twentieth century music from the Americas from Amy Beach to Julia Wolfe and many others in between. Its Other Minds release George Antheil: The Complete Works for String Quartet appears to be
Del Sol's first recording for a concern other than its own label.
Antheil's cycle of three numbered string quartets was first recorded as a unit by the
Mondriaan Quartet for the Dutch Etcetera label back in the 1980s, and at the time were greeted with enthusiasm by
Antheil's supporters. Nevertheless, these performances were cut, and
Mondriaan's general approach (probably unwittingly) distorted
Antheil's intentions. In preparing
Antheil's three numbered quartets, his early and lyrical Lithuanian Nights and his totally unknown Six Little Pieces for String Quartet,
Del Sol has taken especial care to review and compare all of the known printed and manuscript sources on these works. In doing so,
Del Sol has managed to bring all of
Antheil's string quartet music onto a single disc for the first time, as accurate to his initial ideas as possible, and utilizing original scores in lieu of
Antheil's own ubiquitous second thoughts on such matters.
The music is fascinating:
Antheil's approach to writing chamber music is completely unique, even as he references ideas from pieces not his own -- he once stated that in chamber music the composer is "naked" and has no place to hide. As in the string quartet cycles of
Bartók and Schoenberg, all of these quartets reflect the specific stylistic realm in which
Antheil was working when they were written, which is why the integrity of the score material is such an important issue. It makes the biggest difference in the Second Quartet "To Sylvia Beach with Love"; whereas the
Mondriaan Quartet's recording is made from a revised score and reveals a sort of emotional ambivalence and distancing from its subject, the original is passionate, rich with ironic humor and tongue-in-cheek quotations from Romantic music such as Beethoven -- truly a "love letter." The Six Little Pieces for String Quartet are a real find; pithy, mysterious, and spectral miniatures that are cousins to the many movements in his Surrealist-inspired piano suite Les Femmes aux 100 Têtes.
For far too long, the work of
George Antheil has suffered from a credibility gap, in part a consequence of things having little or nothing to do with his music, such as his "tell-all" autobiography Bad Boy of Music. The tremendous care that the
Del Sol String Quartet has put into preparing the recording, and the extremely high artistic level of the performances themselves, results in an enchanting survey of
Antheil's string quartet output that puts to shame all previous efforts and paves the way for a true understanding of
Antheil's relevance and merit.