David Dalle
Thursday October 27th, 2022 with David Dalle
Farewell to Geoff Nuttall, 1st violinist of the St Lawrence String Quartet; Kinan Azmeh in Ottawa.

Today we say a sad farewell to violinist Geoff Nuttall. Born in Texas, he was raised in London, Ontario, and received education at Western University, the University of Toronto, and the Banff Centre. He co-founded the St Lawrence Quartet in 1989, where he performed as 1st violin until his death on October 19th. Geoff Nuttall was an extremely passionate and electrifying performer who I had the chance to see many times over the years, primarily at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival. I also had the privilege of having him as a guest on my program in 2015. The Quartet's repertoire was eclectic and ranged from classical era to contemporary works. Despite the careful rehearsal of a professional chamber ensemble, he would take risks in performance, making the music much more immediate. Geoff Nuttall was also an extremely good communicator about the music he played, and he could bring the music to life even before he sat down to play it. This was most evident when he spoke about his favourite composer, Joseph Haydn, and particularly the groundbreaking Op. 20 String Quartets. Perhaps because Geoff Nuttall's "phrasing often upsets the central pulse of a movement, and the others either follow his lead or scramble to restore rhythmic order...many passages sound riotously improvised.” (Alex Ross), the Quartet did not set down much music in recordings. They did leave us with a few gems, including a recording of his cherished Haydn Op. 20 quartets released in 2019 for their 30th anniversary. The six quartets of Op. 20 were composed in 1772 when Haydn was 40 years old. He was still working at Prince Esterhazy's rural palace where Haydn and all the courtly musicians lived, composed, and played in isolation. Up to that point, Haydn had already composed 22 string quartets, but, like all quartets at that time, they were merely light divertimenti where the 2nd violin, viola, and cello just accompanied the 1st violin. Haydn's Op. 20 was a radical experiment in string quartet which set the quartet model for 200 years. For the first time, equal importance was given to all four instruments, with incredible virtuosic part writing for the inner voices. Haydn infused the string quartets with the drama and theatrics of opera and symphony which had been the main focus of Haydn's work at Eszterhaza. There is also tremendous variety in just these six works, all micro-universes unto themselves. As Geoff Nuttall says: "These pieces are really good, even in a vacuum. Without any knowledge of what came before or after, if you just sit down and look at them--they're both romantic and baroque. They're everything all wrapped into one." We will hear the 2nd of the Op. 20 quartets, the first one the St Lawrence String Quartet really learned in depth, and also brilliantly demonstrates all that was so incredible about Op. 20. The first movement begins with the cello while the viola takes the bass line, then it is joined by the 2nd violin. The movement Capricio. Adagio "invokes a Greek chorus, opera, recitative, aria, and full symphony orchestra, all in one capricious musical journey." (Geoff Nuttall), the finale is a four part fugue. There was no other quartet remotely like this when Hadyn composed it, and I am heartbroken that the most ardent champion of these under appreciated works has left us so soon.