Quatuor Tchalik : Camille Saint-Saëns

Album review

Camille Saint-Saëns' music is at last beginning to emerge from the purdah to which it has been confined for almost a century. New releases follow one after another, constantly leading us to reconsider the unkind judgements that have been made about this composer. It is true that his marked xenophobia and his lack of knowledge of the composers of his time, including Debussy and Stravinsky, made him look like an obtuse reactionary.

Like Bach or Mozart in their time, Saint-Saëns did not seek to revolutionise the language of music, slipping into existing moulds to express what he had to say. Ever respectful of form, he composed, he said, "as an apple tree produces apples". Although he had explored all the genres, Saint-Saëns had never before touched the sacrosanct string quartet, a form renowned for its loftiness and difficulty of writing. It was not until 1899 that he composed his Quartet No. 1 in E minor, probably stirred by the success of Debussy's string quartet that had been written a few years earlier.

Then aged sixty-three, Saint-Saëns breathed an insolent youthfulness into this work with its irresistible dynamic momentum and rich melodies. The writing is skilful and timelessly classic, with a pre-eminence in the part of the first violin. It should be said that the work is dedicated to his friend Eugène Ysaÿe, one of the greatest violinists of his time. The Quartet N° 2 in G major, written in 1918, is less ambitious and has only three movements, but it has the serenity of old age, free from metaphysical torment, combining candour and expression, especially in the beautiful slow movement. The clarity of Saint-Saëns' writing is perfectly displayed by the beautiful interpretation of the Tchalik Quartet, a Franco-Russian sibling ensemble immersed in music from their childhood, with natural playing and the rare ability to listen to each other. © François Hudry/Qobuz