1.	String Quartet 1986 (14:11)
		The Pennsylvania String Quartet
		Timothy Lees & Jennifer Farquhar, violins
		Susannah Farny, viola
		Brant Taylor, 'cello
		String Quartet 1995
	2.	I. Lontano cantabile (3:56)
	3.	II. Vivo, ruvido e deciso (1:56)
	4.	III. Espressivo semplice (3:15)
	5.	IV. Grazioso con brio (4:20)
		The Meridian String Quartet
		Sebu Sirinian & Lisa Tipton, violins
		Liuh-Wen Ting, viola
		Wolfram Koessel, violoncello
		String Quartet 1999
	6.	I. Misterioso ed accelerando (4:08)
	7.	II. Flowing (7:09)
		The Meridian String Quartet
		Shadow, Sighs and Songs of Longing, a concerto for 'cello and orchestra
	8.	I. Cantabile (4:28)
	9.	II. Grazioso (3:33)
	10.	III. Deciso e tragico ma ben cantabile (2:34)
	11.	IV. Giocoso (5:16)
		The Slovak Radio Symphony
		Orchestra of Bratislava
		Joel Eric Suben, conductor
		Robert deMaine, violoncello solo

 

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• Joelle Wallach
• Joel Eric Suben

 

"Joelle Wallach seems determined to keep her birth date a secret. That tells us something, but what? These three string quartets are also given dates, not numbers, so presumably she doesn't want us to know how many she has written. A secretive type. The music is emotional and dramatically cogent, based primarily on short motives that change character as the music proceeds.

Quartet 1986 is in one 14-minute movement and contains a certain violence and rawness, a little hard to listen to in places in this concert performance. Quartets 1995 and 1999 are smoother in texture and sweeter in sound. All three are musically interesting pieces with something to say. Shadows, Sighs, and Songs of Longing is a 16-minute cello concerto of much warmth and lyricism. All in all, this record shows Wallach as a composer of considerable charm and serious intent. The performances are mostly effective, the recording mostly good. The exceptions occur in the first quartet, and a little taming of the high frequencies should solve most of it. A worthy collection."