John Blackwood McEwen: ‘Fantasia’ for String Quartet, No. 17 (1947)

Scottish composer John Blackwood McEwen's (1868-1948) music is not always easy to come to terms with. Neither is it unapproachable. Critics regarded him in his day as being something of a modernist. Certainly, with hindsight it is easy to see that he was often quite daring in his use of harmony and instrumental timbre. None of McEwen’s music could be classified as extrovert; much of it is introspective. Yet, it is all the better for this. He is not a showman - he does not use effect for effect’s sake. Every note seems to count for him; he composes with an economical style. This is especially obvious in his many the chamber works.

The last of McEwen's String Quartets is a Fantasia, completed after the Second World War in 1947. It lasts a bare ten minutes. But the short duration should not encourage us to belittle this music. This is highly concentrated stuff, occupying a sound-scheme very much of its own. It is not possible to pin it down to being inspired by Bartók, Shostakovich or Britten. Here is a work that exhibits the considerable creative powers present in the mind of an eighty-year old man who was close to the end of his distinguished career. This is not a composer resting on his laurels, nor harking back to some youthful or previously successful style. The Quartet Fantasia is a powerful statement in its own right. We look largely in vain for the Scottish fingerprints - although perhaps it is in the 'air' rather than in the notes. There may be some dancing steps here and there, especially in the middle section. 

Levon Chilingirian, in the liner notes explains that the Quartet is “introduced by a dignified cello solo in the distinct tonality of C sharp minor, the music unfolds unhurriedly. The central Allegro has scurrying rhythms with a reflective Dvorakian middle section. The sombre and almost defiant Andante returns, its final notes pessimistic and very distant.”

This is a dark, work - although the darkness is occasionally relieved by passages of some considerable warmth. It is a fitting end to a fine academic and creative career. There were to be only a few relatively minor chamber pieces for cello and piano before the composer's death.

John Blackwood McEwen’s ‘Fantasia’ for String Quartet, No. 17 can be heard on Chandos CHAN 9926 (2002). Other works on this CD includes Quartet No. 16 ‘Quartette Provençale’ (1936), the Quartet for Strings No.7 ‘Threnody’ (1916) and the Quartet No. 4 (1905). All works are played by the Chilingirian Quartet.