Villa-Lobos: SQ 14, 15, 16, and 17

 

These last four quartets continue the style Villa-Lobos eventually adopted with his Eleventh Quartet, with Neo-Classicism at the fore, and an subtle underlying Brazilian, rhythmic background.

I am finding it difficult to tell these last few quartets apart. In general, I enjoy listening to them, but rarely as a whole; more in fits and starts. Villa-Lobos has certain attributes he enjoys putting into each of these pieces, and they start sounding similar after a while.

String Quartet no. 14 is a desolate little work, with a flourish of chromatic confusion which opens the work. The more serious pallor, alongside only a few fleeting moments of sensuality or light, makes this one my least favorite of this last quartet of quartets.

String Quartet no. 15 contains the most inventive movement of these last six or so quartets. Its second movement is filled with harmonics, pizzicati, and tremolos, setting this portion apart from his generally lyrical and songful slow movements. SQ15 may be my favorite of these final quartets, if nothing else than for a more upbeat atmosphere, but certainly for this remarkable movement.

I should mention the composer's love of quartals and open fifths. This was an aspect I've noticed since around SQ6, where I heard a Mid-Century Americana in his musical voice; it also hearkens to his piano concertos. Villa-Lobos uses quartals as a point of modernism as well as Americana, so its effect is all in his handling of the music. These can sound spare and austere, imbuing an ambivalence to his harmonies, leaving me as a listener uncertain.

One curiosity which has maintained my interest is how Villa-Lobos ends each movement. He always ends on a 'C' chord, sometimes an extended chord, others times nothing but C. Either way, how he gets there is a mighty fun diversion, although Villa-Lobos tends to tack on a coda, often unrelated to previous material in order to get to the end. As I said, a diversion, but an entertaining one at that, since all of these last ten quartets or so all have movements ending in C.

I will only broadly speak of Villa-Lobos' last two quartets, String Quartet no. 16 and String Quartet no. 17. They are in turns dissonant and sweet, light and heavy, crunchy and affable, and the composer weaves his music around these ideas hand in hand. The quartets also follow much the same pattern which I spoke of with SQ12 & SQ13, which I feel is an unfortunate side effect of writing so much music, again mentioned in his Piano Concertos as well. The biggest differing trend in these later quartets is their brevity; where each quartet has simply become shorter and more concise over time.

These are all an enjoyable listen, but rarely do they fasten a strong hook onto this listener. Villa-Lobos remains a singular craftsman as a composer, but as I finish off his set of string quartets, I am left with the same feeling I had with his symphonies and piano concertos. Too much of the same and not enough to distinguish amongst a large host of works within a genre.

 

Works
String Quartet 14 (18.01)
String Quartet 15 (18.26)
String Quartet 16 (20.18)
String Quartet 17 (20.30)

Performers
Cuarteto Latinoamericano
    Saúl Bitrán, violin
    Arón Bitrán, violin
    Javier Montiel, viola
    Alvaro Bitrán, cello

Label: Dorian
Year: 1995-2000; 2009

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