Playing On The Edge 2
Navona, 2020
8/10
Listen to Playing On The Edge 2
The Sirius Quartet, i.e. Fung Chern Hwei (violin), Gregor Huebner (violin), Ron Lawrence (viola) and Jeremy Harman (cello), return with another installment of their string prowess, and much their earlier work, it’s full of precise and flawless instrumentation.
Bruce Babcock’s “Watcher Of The Sky” starts the listen with 4 movements as elegant, stirring strings open the tune and continue with sublime sophistication, and Dayton Kinney’s “The Canary Who Sang” follows with a bouncy, quirky spirit that nearly gets cinematic with it’s unpredictable landscape.
Deeper into the listen, “Variations On Emotions” moves cautiously, emotively and with no shortage of quivering strings that bursts into a brisk pace of meticulous instrumentation where joy, anger, happiness and sorrow are represented, while “String Quartet- MVT 1” weaves dramatic moments into lush avenues of timeless classical music that’s layered superbly. The 3 movements of “String Quartet No. 1- Landscapes” exits the listen, and brings plucked and bowed playfulness to the also very intimate climate.
An excellent follow up to their 2019 effort, it will be exciting to see what Sirius Quartet come up with for part 3 of this fascinating series.
Travels well with: Bill Whitley- Then Elephant Speaks; Patterns- Chamber Works