Search - Arthur Foote, James Barbagallo :: Arthur Foote: Piano Quartet; String Quartet No. 1; Nocturne and Scherzo

Praise and a Caveat

Jeffrey Lehman | 04/28/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How to describe the chamber music of Arthur Foote? In terms of sound production, these are post-Brahmsian works, with a touch of Wagnerian chromaticism and the clean, open textures of late Dvorak. But in terms of melodic contour, the spirits of Mendelssohn and Schumann hover over both the Piano Quartet and the First String Quartet. This makes for an appealing combination of the forward-looking and the traditional, pretty much the case with American music at the time Foote was writing, though as an adherent of Wagner, he would have been rather advanced compared to, say, John Knowles Paine and others of his contemporaries. The Nocturne and Scherzo from 1918 is more advanced still and exhibits a French lightness, though I detect Mendelssohn again in the dancing Scherzo. That makes sense; nobody did scherzos better.This is another useful issue in the Naxos series devoted to Foote's chamber music. The playing of the Da Vinci Quartet and of James Barbagallo and Jeani Foster is admirable, and I have nothing but praise for their work. The fly in the ointment here is the recording, specifically that of the Nocturne and Scherzo. Though the album cover swears up and down the recordings were all made in the same hall at the University of Denver, the warmth and immediacy accorded the two quartets is nowhere in evidence. Instead, the sound has a hollow, chilly quality that is ugly in the extreme. If I knew nothing about this recording and was told it came from the early fifties, I'd have no reason to doubt it. So while musically this disc is a thorough winner, I think, like me, you'll be so turned off by the recording of the Nocturne and Scherzo that you won't go there very often."

Music I listen to again and again.

Eric Stott | Albany, NY USA | 12/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This isn't important or innovative music, it's just beautiful. I play all three volumes of Foote's Naxos discs quietly at work again and again, and never tire of them."

Nothing ground-breaking, but simply wonderful music.

Jeffrey Lehman | Market Harborough, UK | 10/26/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Arthur Footes music was fairly conservative. For most people, this means his music is lovely and easy to listen to. For modernists, this might be a bit of a dull CD, but for everyone else, the music on this CD is probably the reason you listen to classical music.
Melodic, lyrical, energetic, and even inventive (within the bounds of classical harmony) are words which could describe the music on this Cd.The performances and the recording are impeccable to my ears."