Martin: Chamber Music

Frank Martin's chamber music output is quite modest, yet it spans an entire lifetime of artistic creation. Together with the pianist Ilona Timchenko, the Utrecht String Quartet presents three key works that impressively bring together the traditions and innovations of 20th-century music. The youngest of ten children, Martin grew up in a Calvinist parsonage, surrounded by music-making with his older siblings. His early piano quartet of 1919 clearly reflects the influence of composers from Johann Sebastian Bach to César Franck, yet is continually enriched by dissonances that hint at broader harmonic ambitions. Martin soon reached the limits of the traditional major-minor system, without ever denying the importance of a tonal center. He combined Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique with a keen sense of sonority and harmonic refinement, which is particularly evident in the two outer movements of his 1936 string trio. It was not until the age of 75 that Martin turned to the crowning genre of chamber music. His string quartet of 1966 brings together inspirations from a long artistic journey. Harmony, melody, and rhythm form the distinctive unity so characteristic of Martin's music, which the Utrecht String Quartet brings to life with natural ease.