We knew all the masterpieces we had thought - twenty years ago we had already heard every worthwhile work, the symphonies of Szymanowsky and Enesco being among the last to be discovered - but to-day after all that and quite unexpectedly a hitherto unknown but indisputable masterpiece was revealed to our ears. It is the Adagio which William Lekeu wrote in 1891 in response to the death of his teacher Franck.

In French the forces required are described as "pour Quatuor d'Orchestre" - "for orchestra quartet" - and what does that mean? A string orchestra without double basses we thought; but no, they are very much in evidence, and a solo viola too is occasionally heard. Grove tells us it is for "string quartet with orchestra" and probably they are right. The "de" there that is seems to mean something other than "of" - but what exactly appears untranslatable, unless it is simply "with."

The harmonic language of the work is what impresses us most. It is complicated original and thrilling, but we hear traces of Beethoven and Wagner, together with an amazing foreshadowing of the 1899 Transfigured Night (although of course it sounds even more like the string orchestra transcription thereof, which dates from 1917).

Lekeu worked with a feverish intensity, saying somewhere "I am killing myself by putting my whole soul into my music"; and indeed he did very soon die, a day after his twenty-fourth birthday, when he succumbed to the same malady which took George Hegel and (probably) Peter Chayceffscy.

A kind Japanese gentleman of evident taste and discrimination furnishes us with this image of the intense young man:


What undisputed masterpieces have other Members unexpectedly discovered but lately?

I rememer a Unicorn LP of Lekeu's sonata, with a blue cover.I used to play it often.

I remember being bowled over when I discovered Franck's 'LesBeatitudes' and I am baffled as to why others find it dull or uneven.I think it is an imperishable masterpiece and would go down well at the Proms,as it seems to benefit from a really massive performance.

I think 'Kullervo' is also a masterpiece and wonder why 'old Sib' withdrew it.

And I think Vaughan Williams' Partita for double string orchestrra (a symphony in all but name)  is every bit the equal of Bartok's Muisc for strings,percussion and celesta.Perhaps the best recording of it is  by the RLPO and Vernon Handley.

Ah, thank you Mr. Sudden, that is helpful. It appears that we were to some extent misled by the New Grove.

Yes we got the evidently misleading "string quartet and orchestra" from their Lekeu section. But under "quatuor" they simply say "see Quartet."


"Dégueulasse" is a little stronger we think than "dreadful," more "disgusting"; especially seeing that "dégueuler" means "puke," "throw up." We retain vivid memories of the language of a little French colleague in Germany in the 1970's. At the hour of luncheon he would come into the canteen, pick half-heartedly at his food, and very soon throw down his fork with a "Fait chier! C'est dégueulasse!" This went on every day without fail for more than six months.

If these are all French or part-Basque or so folks... then why do we use a German phrase, unendliche Melodie, to describe the feature?

Because it's a thing we normally associate with German/Austrian composers (Bruckner, Mahler).

G major piano concerto, slow movement?


I refrained from correcting the Frenchperson's spelling of dégueulasse but of course you are quite right. Also that it is a little stronger than dreadful. I contemplated 'disgusting' but it seemed unidiomatic (at least I tend not to use that word in describing the playing of a string section); given the context I would have settled for 'crap' but thought, no, perhaps there might be ladies present, I'll go with 'dreadful' and imagine it forthrightly spoken. Perhaps 'revolting' might have been a better choice.

The juxtaposition of 'vomitous' and 'gives [one] the shits' in your Frenchperson's post-prandial utterance is something I've always found amusing. I would have thought that apart from very exceptional cases indeed it was one or the other. Perhaps one could safely generalise that the French tend to have forgotten the origins of their idioms.

Which reminds me of a time I was suffering from a gastric upset of, shall we say, a southern nature. The traditional French remedy for that is a generous shot of Ricard downed in one. The French for down in one is 'cul sec!'. My then girlfriend proffered the glass with that remark to which I could only reply forlornly "j'aimerais bien, ouais...".

Around about hereish.



(I'm the wrong person to be answering this, I'm afraid. As you can see. I'm sure the right person will be along soon.)