Tristan Keuris's conversion to a neo-tonal idiom, in the late 1970s, did not mean in the least a radical condemnation of more rigid movements. When a TV journalist asked him somewhat provocatively if he hadn't even wanted to compose a strict serial piece, Keuris replied 'out of the blue' that that had actually been one of great wishes. But unfortunately, he had no talent for it; and that was it.
Fortunately, because Keuris was pre-eminently a composer who needed the traditional craft in order to be able to develop completely freely as Tristan Keuris. His sublime mastery was therefore not an expression of greed, but of humanity, in the tradition of Beethoven and Bartok. In Keuris' First String Quartet from 1982 we hear the kind of short-breathed motor skills of which Stravinsky was a grand master, but which is quite tiring for Stravinsky adepts. In the beautiful Second String Quartet (1985), however, the expressive but controlled pathos of a composer dominates from start to finish, who perfectly balances the inner and outer aspects of his craft. Very beautiful is the tension of this through-composed work, which starts with a long, unison melody in the cello. The apotheosis is a grim march at times, which (despite the precedents of, for example, Mahler and Britten) does not come across at all anachronistic. The Clarinet Quintet, written in 1988 for clarinetist George Pieterson, and the Orlando Quartet on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Concertgebouw, are also masterful. Clarinetist José-Luis Estellés and the Orpheus Quartet also play the Concerto for String Quartet and Bass Clarinet (1976-1977, revised 1979). (HJ)more
