Busch Adolf , Trio , Quartetto

But it was through the best-known Eldering pupil, Adolf Busch, that the recording of Beethoven quartets reached its apogee. Frustratingly, the Busch Quartet (left) did not record any Beethoven until late 1932, two decades after the group’s founding; but after Busch began his principled boycott of his native land early in 1933, because of the Nazi regime’s treatment of the Jews, HMV in London made sure that as many recordings as possible were made. Even then, circumstances dictated that the Busch ensemble never completed a recorded cycle, although both HMV and American Columbia would gladly have sponsored one, and the wartime recording of Op. 59/2 was not released until 40 years later. But that performance and those of Op. 18/1, Op. 59/1, Op. 59/3, Op. 95, Op. 127, Op. 130, Op. 131, Op. 132 and Op. 135 have rightly gained legendary status. Like Capet, Busch was a master of bowing, especially of the long bow, and his control of rhythm was as sovereign in slow music as in fast. He felt that the late quartets, haunted by intimations of mortality, had to be taken to extremes: his fast tempi generally approached or matched Beethoven’s markings – an exception being the substitute Allegro finale to Op. 130, where his steadier speed gave the skipping main theme more substance – and his slow tempi were very slow. It was the custom, when recording on 78rpm discs, to do two takes of each side before proceeding to the next side. Busch went along with this system in fast movements but in the great slow movements he made only one take of each side, so as to keep as much continuity as possible, and made further takes on subsequent days if necessary. Because his sense of rhythm was so uncanny, the separate sides that make up each movement join up very well on LP or CD. He and his colleagues also knew how to hold a tempo, not speeding up when the music got louder or slowing down when it got softer; and they never made the error perpetrated by some artists, of slowing down when approaching the end of a side. They were also masters of pizzicato and of varying vibrato. Over and above such technical considerations, Busch had an unrivalled ability to bring out the spirituality of Beethoven’s quartets: he could freight a simple line of music with almost unbearable intensity and exaltation; and he identified totally with Beethoven’s sound world. His leadership inspired his colleagues – younger brother Herman Busch, cello, Gösta Andreasson, second violin, and Karl Doktor, viola – to enter into the same rarefied sphere. Today’s listener will note the players’ portamenti, and will also realise that not all the portamenti are matched: while some slides were planned, so as to knit particular phrases together, expressive slides were left to the individual player’s discretion in those days. Some listeners may feel that the tempo for the Lento assai of Op. 135 is too slow, but how wonderfully the musicians sustain it. By the time he came to record the Grosse Fuge, Busch no longer felt able to do it with a quartet – although he continued to feature it in concert cycles – and he made it the first studio project with his American chamber orchestra. It is a blistering performance but one would rather have had it with a single player to a part. The Busch Beethoven records have frequently been reissued and the most recent EMI box of the late quartets includes the American recordings of Op. 130 and the Fugue. To hear Busch in the Cavatina of Op. 130 or the Heiliger Dankgesang of Op. 132 is to realise that he truly set the outer parameters in late Beethoven. Those who have succumbed to the Busch magic will be interested to hear live recordings from the group’s last year, 1951: Op. 18/1, Op. 59/3 and Op. 130, with an even more ethereal Cavatina than in the studio version, stem from a single Ludwigsburg concert. I am told that Op. 131, from a Frankfurt recital, is due for release at last. Tully Potter ha scritto: