Canadian Guitar Quartet – Empty Houses

The Canadian Guitar Quartet no longer needs to demonstrate its technical quality, artistic excellence and convincing eclecticism. Empty Houses reflects the breadth of the ensemble’s repertoire: arrangements of the great classics (Bach, Mozart), high-quality vernacular music (Jobim, Bonfa) and contemporary compositions (Patrick Roux, Olga Amelkina-Vera, Renaud Côté-Giguère). The album kicks off with its strongest moment: Prologue, fougue et allegro trépidant, a composition by Patrick Roux (born 1962) which is one of the most exciting I’ve heard for this kind of grouping. Filled with thrilling or touching melodies, exciting rhythms and spectacular technical prowess, it’s a sure-fire hit in any concert! The rest, while not quite as memorable, offers some fine minutes of music. Louis Trépanier’s arrangement of tunes from Orfeu negro (Jobim/Bonfa), in three movements, is a respectful yet free tribute to the music that launched bossa nova in the West. An arrangement of Bach (Sonata sopr’il soggetto reale for flute, violin and continuo, ext. from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079) and Mozart (first movement of the Sonata for two pianos, K. 448) offer a glimpse of the great digital finesse of the four instrumentalists.

Pulsar, by composer Olga Amelkina-Vera, is an exercise in jagged rhythms not devoid of expressive demands and quality, but does not do full justice to its subject, a star spinning on itself at astonishing speed and discharging astronomical (!) doses of energy. In this sense, the same object suggested a little electronic jewel to Vangelis much longer ago and would have benefited from being translated for this kind of ensemble. The four movements of Renaud Côté-Giguère’s Empty Houses move from jazz to prog rock and Brazilian music in a very fluid and organic writing between the four instruments. Intertwined lines, with subtle but rich counterpoint, trace landscapes tinged with emotional ambivalence. The third movement is astonishing: the quartet creates sounds reminiscent of a synthetic keyboard!

A top-quality programme to match the immense talent of four musicians at the top of their game.