Ensemble Arcadiana Gives Spirited Performances of Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartets

July 11, 2019

British Jamaican composer Eleanor Alberga’s musical career has traversed a variety of occupations, collaborations, and musical styles. In addition to her work as a concert pianist, her experiences as a collaborator range from providing musical accompaniment for contemporary dance improvisations to participating in Jamaican and African folk ensembles. As a composer, Alberga has historically garnered attention for works that draw from her diverse musical background, including chamber and orchestral works such as Dancing With the Shadow (1990) and Arise Athena! (2015), as well as an opera, Letters of a Love Betrayed (2009). Her newest album, String Quartets 1, 2, & 3 (Navona Records, 2019), featuring Ensemble Arcadiana, presents her string quartets that draw more overtly from western art music’s stylistic canon.

Alberga’s string quartets prioritize compositional techniques that develop melodic and rhythmic motives, harmony, and counterpoint to create clear musical forms and distinct characters. This clarity and often episodic development can, in the context of the whole album, lead to predictability in longer tracks. However, persistent listeners are rewarded with several refreshingly innovative moments of timbral and textural exploration.

Alberga’s first and third string quartets were commissioned by the Maggini Quartet in 1993 and 2001 respectively. Maggini, who have a strong working relationship with Alberga, might have recorded the album were it not for the death of second violinist, David Angel (1954-2017), to whom the album is dedicated. Fortunately, Ensemble Arcadiana, comprised of Thomas Bowes (violin), Jacqueline Shave (violin), Oscar Perks (violin), Andres Kajuste (viola), and Jonathan Swensen (cello), have also worked closely with Alberga during the yearly Arcadia Festival, organized by Alberga and her husband Bowes. With this familiarity, Arcadiana brings spirited and energetic interpretations that effectively portray the variety of musical characters found in Alberga’s quartets.