Escher Quartet
Jordan Bak, viola
PNC Theatre
Pittsburgh Playhouse
Pittsburgh, PA
October 21, 2024

Barber: String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11
Price: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor
Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111

Opening the 2024-25 season of Chamber Music Pittsburgh was the New York-based Escher Quartet — an ensemble whose last local appearance was a streamed performance without audience during the covid lockdown. Euro-centric a tradition as the string quartet may be, the Escher’s program interesting opened with two American works, beginning with Samuel Barber’s youthful entry in B minor.

Terse, rapid gesture were given with singular intestity, interspersed with more lyrical material. The central Molto adagio would later become the iconic, standalone Adagio for Strings — and how fascinating it was to hear it in its original context, blanketed by contrasting outer movements. Far less saturated than the later expansion for string orchestra, it allowed one to better take note of its intricacies, particularly the melody for viola. The music grew to the impassioned, only to fade to somber quietude. Barber here was at his most neo-Romantic, sharply diverging from the stark modernism that opened. A brief finale followed without pause, at first recalling the gestures of the beginning, but then taking a life of its own in a brief but blistering coda.

The opening of Florence Price’s Second Quartet had a distinctive, recognizably American sound, balancing erudite sophistication with a certain down-to-earth abandon. A genial and gracious melodic line was tinged with folk tradition, and the slow movement that followed was a songful interlude, seemingly at peace with the world. A Juba movement is a device Price often used, and here it took the usual place of the Scherzo. Given without inhibition, bluesy harmonies and vibrant syncopations made for a delightful listen. The finale saw heightened drama, showcasing Price’s compositional skill with its coruscating counterpoint. An impressive close to the American half of the recital, and the Eschers served as strong advocates for Price.

Quartet then became quintet with the addition of violist Jordan Bak, affording the Pittsburgh audience the opportunity to hear Brahms’ expansive G major string quintet. The composer originally envisioned the work as his fifth symphony, and the vestiges of symphonic heft were evident from the grand sweep of the opening. A singing theme added contrast, with the addition of the second viola making matters all the more lovely. Bak blended well with the quartet, and the combined forces offered mastery of the work’s large-scale form.

A pizzicato bass line from the cello was a striking effect in the serene Adagio, as was a richly articulated melodic line in the first violin. The hesitating gesture in the penultimate movement gave it a certain autumnal quality, fitting for a work from late in the composer’s life, but the finale was a playful affair, hardly dour, with a bold and bracing finish fitting for a work of such proportion.