Peter Child: Reviews: String Quartet No. 2 Composed 1989. APNM. Excerpt from By Richard Dyer When Andrew Ernst Gombosi was born on March 7, 1987, his parents, Peter and Carolyn, decided to do something special to commemorate this special occasion: they commissioned a string quartet from composer Peter Child. It was a nice idea and Child has produced a nice quartet, as sweet, obstreperous and surprising as any proper baby ought to be. The work, "Andrew's Quartet," had its premiere Sunday night at a
special benefit concert by the Lydian String Quartet at the All-Newton
Music School. A fanfare celebrates Andrew and
introduces his piece; the first movement includes a deliciously
off-center waltz. The canonic slow movement is derived from a
lullabye; a fast and playful contrasting section at its center uses
the same material. The third movement was a little harder to grasp on
first hearing -- it seemed a little short-winded and everytime it got
something going it stopped and did something else. Perhaps this was
the point, and repeated listening would probably make sense of it --
one has learned to trust Peter Child. The composer's program
note also points out that the third movement also contains a reference
to the Gombosi "family whistle." The performance was skillful,
devoted and entertaining, and this was obviously an Occasion; the
audience entered into the spirit of things and repeatedly recalled the
Lydian Quartet to mthe stage and the players, in turn, repeatedly
beckoned Child to rise from his chair.
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