The Four and the One: In Praise of String Quartets

David Rounds shares his lifelong reverence for the string quartet in this comprehensive history of the instrumental form, with musical examples. Spotlighting the four women of the Lafayette Quartet, a leading Canadian ensemble, Rounds offers an insider s view of the complex world of the string quartet player, revealing the exultation and heartache that are the daily fare of professional performing artists. A book for every music-lover, whether player, composer or listener.

Why have so many great composers reserved some of their most profound, personal music for their string quartets? This question has always fascinated musicians and chamber music lovers; in this book, David Rounds--a teacher, writer, chamber singer, and lifelong quartet addict--suggests an explanation: the instrumental combination resembles human voices, and socially the group resembles a family or a gathering of friends carrying on a conversation. Rounds remarks that the use of the same phrase to denote the musical form and the team of players indicates that a quartet performance is created by the participants' interaction as much as by the written notes. The author's premise, reflected in his title, is that in a quartet, four players and four instruments have to become one unit; to demonstrate the arduous process this requires, he enlisted the collaboration of the Lafayette Quartet, an all-women group in residence at the University of Victoria School of Music in Canada. Attending their rehearsals offered him, and the reader, a unique opportunity to follow their discussions and witness the emergence of an interpretation. The players also talked with Rounds about their personal and professional lives, speaking very frankly and with great intelligence, thoughtfulness, and conviction; though winningly spontaneous, these conversations could have used a little editorial polish. The book begins with an introduction to the development of chamber music and ends with a guide to the quartet repertoire. Rounds's descriptions of the music are excellent, though his value judgments can be arbitrary; his hope is to kindle his own devotion to the string quartet in his readers. --Edith Eisler