Premiere Performance of John Blackwood McEwen’s Biscay Quartet (1913)

John Blackwood McEwen’s (1868-1948) cycle of 19 string quartets is a remarkable achievement by any standards. I base this opinion on hearing the ten quartets which were recorded by the Chilingirian Quartet in the early 2000s. 

The Quartet No.6 (sometimes indicated as No.8) in A major is subtitled Biscay. It was written in 1913 whilst McEwen was convalescing in Cap Ferret, France. This beautiful resort is built on a spit of land facing the Atlantic Ocean and bordering the River Gironde.

The work was dedicated to the London String Quartet which at that date consisted of Albert Sammons, Thomas W Petre, Harry Waldo Warner, and Charles Warwick Evans.

The Pall Mall Gazette (17 June 1915, p.4) announced the premiere of McEwen’s Biscay String Quartet. It was to be given by the London String Quartet at the Aeolian Hall, London on the 19 June 1915. Other works to be performed included Claude Debussy’s String Quartet and Franz Schubert’s Quintet in C, op.163, D.956. The writer noted the three movements:  Le Phare, Les Dunes and La Racleuse. He suggested that this last was “a humoresque and is obviously a subject suitable for treatment by stringed instruments, as the word is commonly used to describe someone who scrapes a fiddle.”

The following Monday, the Daily News (21 June 1915, p.2) reported that “the London String Quartet played Debussy’s Quartet very beautifully, particularly the strangely original scherzo.” Turning to McEwen’s “British novelty,” the critic felt that “it is a charmingly fresh and sane piece of work, quite free from morbid introspectiveness or pedantry, and all the movements have a very welcome open air feeling.” Interestingly, they suggest that the first and last movements, Le Phare and La Racleuse respectively, “are based on haunting tunes, which if not folk tunes of Southern France, are very like them in their lilt, and they are treated with great but unobtrusive skill. The second movement, Sur les Dunes is, in a word, a serene and peaceful meditation. The reception of the work, which it is to be hoped will soon be repeated, was exceedingly cordial.”

The Scotsman (21 June 1915, p.7) referred to the Saturday afternoon “pop.” Can one imagine anyone referring to a chamber concert of Debussy, Schubert and McEwen as a “pop” in 2022? After a brief outline of the work, the reviewer considered that “Mr McEwen’s music is of a descriptive character and has the same elemental strength of which a favourable example has already been given in his orchestral piece Grey Galloway.”

They continue: “All three movements have their own special attraction. The expressive minor phrase which plays such an important part in the second [movement] brings vividly before one’s mental vision the sad expanse of the sand dunes, to which each in its own style, the stormy Le Phare and the concluding humoresque, supply a distinct sense of contrast.”  The assessment concludes by suggesting that Mr McEwen may be congratulated on having made a notable contribution to the modern chamber music repertoire. The new quartet was admirably performed by the [London Quartet, and] had an enthusiastic reception.”

On 23 June, the Truth journal (p.1041) reported that “Certainly I never want to hear a more finished performance of Debussy’s quartet, which, as our American friends might say, is “some quartet” and takes “some” playing – than they provided, while they brought forward also a new quartet dubbed ‘Biscay’…which despite its title, produced sensations wholly pleasant.”

It is fair to say that the Biscay Quartet is not a classically-designed ‘absolute’ work. It is a suite of three pieces. It has been described as ‘a mellifluous and deftly written series of romantic seascapes.’ The opening movement is subtitled Le Phare (The Lighthouse). To this day, it is an important landmark on the Cap. The music is written in a robust 6/8 time played Allegro. It gives a characteristically (for the Bay of Biscay) stormy mood which is contrasted with a wistful and much calmer passage. The second movement, Les Dunes displays a Gallic charm and features viola and violin solos. It was appropriate that this quartet was originally programmed with Debussy’s great exemplar: McEwen has captured an impressionistic mood without developing into pastiche or parody. The title of the finale, La Racleuse, is an enigma. The word translates as ‘The Scraper.’ The music seems to mimic a violin played either badly or enthusiastically. There are also hints of a French accordion here. Cobbett’s Cyclopaedic Survey of Chamber Music (1929/1963) notes that La Racleuse…recalls the free and happy life of the oyster gatherers on the oyster beds. So maybe it is scraping a living rather than a fiddle? Whatever the inspiration, this is a vivacious and thoroughly enjoyable exploration of the possibilities of string quartet writing. 

John Blackwood McEwen’s Biscay Quartet can be heard on Chandos, CHAN 10084.