Samuragochi string quartet CD

[hemmesjo]

Just saw this on amazon.  Has anyone heard it yet?

http://www.amazon.com/CHACONNE--SAMURAGOCHI-MAMORU-STRING-WORKS-/dp/B0064FF12M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330852339&sr=8-2

It contains:
1. CHACONNE FOR VIOLIN SOLO/ OHTANI YASUKO
2. SONATINE FOR VIOLIN IN C-SHARP MINOR/ OHTANI YASUKO
3. STRING QUARTET NO.1 1ST MOVEMENT/ YASUKO OHTANI STRING QUARTET
4. STRING QUARTET NO.1 2ND MOVEMENT/ YASUKO OHTANI STRING QUARTET
5. STRING QUARTET NO.1 3RD MOVEMENT/ YASUKO OHTANI STRING QUARTET
6. STRING QUARTET NO.2 1ST MOVEMENT/ YASUKO OHTANI STRING QUARTET
7. STRING QUARTET NO.2 2ND MOVEMENT/ YASUKO OHTANI STRING QUARTET
8. STRING QUARTET NO.2 3RD MOVEMENT/ YASUKO OHTANI STRING QUARTET

Dan

[febnyc]

The (somewhat belated) answer to the question is:  Yes - a good friend of mine has, and he sent me the following message which conveys his impressions of the music:

I just finished my second listen to this follow-up disk to Samuragochi's brilliant Hiroshima symphony and I wanted to give you my impressions. First, like the earlier disk, it is generously filled, lasting over 81 minutes. There are four works on the disk. The first is called Chaconne. This 20 minute piece for solo violin is obviously inspired by Bach's six suites for unaccompanied violin. It has a baroque feel to it at times as it wends its way along through a myriad of incidents and violin effects to its conclusion. It was quite accessible and held my attention all the way, no mean feat for 20 minutes of solo violin.

This is followed by an 8 minute sonatina for violin and piano. This piece is very sweet and gentle, as well as being more melodic than other works from this composer.

The two major works on the disk are Samuragochi's first two string quartets. It is often said that composers reserve their most intimate emotions and thoughts for their chamber music and that appears to be the case here. In the booklet, the unfortunate composer, who is deaf, was described as "suffering a variety of afflictions including depressive neurosis, anxiety neurosis, a constant booming sound inside his head and ears that gives the impression of being locked up inside a boiler room, and severe tenosynovitis or tendon sheath inflammation." In the first quartet, the composer seems to be groping desperately to give voice to the agonies he suffers, while hopelessly crying for relief. It is one of the most harrowing pieces I've ever heard. The only string quartet I can compare it to in bleakness of mood is one of Shostakovich's late quartets, I think the 13th. The piece, which lasts about 28 minutes, is filled with obsessive syncopations, ghostly tapping of the bow, torturous glissandi that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, and tortured cries for help. At one point I was reminded of Smetana's quartet where he portrays the moment of deafness. There is no relief, no ray of hope, no resolution. The piece dies away in agony.

The second quartet is an altogether different affair. It is a sad, gentle lament that while lasting about 24 minutes, (like the first quartet it is also in three movements), is really one long movement. It brought tears to my eyes as its ineffable sadness was only briefly interrupted near the end by a three minute baroque like abstract section, after which the sadness returned. It is as if the composer took some solace from making pure abstract music before returning to the sorrow in his soul. Unlike the first quartet, the second shows resignation and acceptance of fate, albeit without hope.

In summary, a brilliant but disturbing disk.