Anthony Burgess Guitar Quartets on Naxos

I first became aware of the musical side of novelist Anthony Burgess when his novel Napoleon Symphony first appeared. This was a book in four “movements” about Napoleon that reflected the four movements of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 55 (third) symphony, best known as the “Eroica.” Beethoven had originally dedicated this symphony to Napoleon; but that dedication was retracted (replaced with the word “Eroica”) when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor.

I remember reading a newspaper article in which Burgess claimed he wrote the book with his typewriter to the right of his desk and his piano to the left. Some of the Beethoven references in the text are amusingly explicit. It is easy to sing the opening words of the second chapter to the opening theme of the second movement of Opus 55. Ultimately, however, it is Napoleon that dominated the novel, rather than Beethoven.

courtesy of Naxos of America

With that distant context, I was not surprised to learn that, this coming Friday, Naxos Classics would release a CD of the complete guitar quartets (four guitars, not guitar and three string instruments) composed by Burgess. This includes three numbered quartets and Morceaux Irlandais settings of three folk songs, as well as arrangements of the “Mercury” movement from Gustav Holst’s Opus 32 suite The Planets and the overture to Carl Maria von Weber’s opera Oberon. As many readers will expect, Amazon.com has created a Web page for pre-ordering this new release.

Like the joke about a dog walking on its hind legs, the fact that Burgess composed such a generous amount of music for guitar quartet is impressive just for having been done at all. This is perhaps particularly important when it came to dealing with the rich orchestration of Holst’s suite, which may be the most impressive rabbit that Burgess pulls out of his hat. However, I was just as impressed by the number of traditional classical forms that show up in the guitar movements and the freshness that Burgess brought to each of those structures.

Burgess may not have spent as much time composing music as he devoted to the typewriter on the other side of his desk. Nevertheless, it is clear that he took his work very seriously. The problem is that there are just too few opportunities to listen to guitar quartet recitals. A decade ago I would not have been surprised to encounter these pieces in performances at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. These days I would not hold my breath, but readers know that I continue to key my eyes open for guitar recitals!