ROSAMUNDE QUARTET
Haydn: Seven Last Words
ECM
· 18th century downtempo.
Haydn is no one's favourite composer: bridging the gap between the Baroque and the Romantics, he's not as melodic as the former, nor as dramatic as the latter, and definitely lacking the light touch of Mozart, his contemporary.
Thorough is the word that usually comes to mind, and when he had a good idea, Haydn worked it through, as is the case with Seven Last Words. Originally written for a full orchestra, it was subsequently reworked into three other versions: piano solo, full oratorio and (most successfully) as a string quartet, present on this recording. The piece itself is unusually consistent in its solemn pacing, over an hour of downtempo, a hint of melody, a shift of emphasis moving things along, successive movements deepening the mood rather than providing contrast. Simplicity and depth.
As is by now expected from ECM, performance and production are flawless, and the players’ background in contemporary classical music translates into a distinctly modern view of the ancients. For a generation whose main exposure to this form is through electronic samples, Seven Last Words is the ideal move to a higher level of listening.
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