Hollywood String Quartet - The HSQ Sound

The HSQ Sound

The Slatkins’ elder son, conductor Leonard Slatkin, has observed that the similarities among musicians’ backgrounds and music training impacts their technique and resulting sound as an ensemble: "With the Hollywood String Quartet, you had four people who basically had the same kind of training; four people who were more or less of the same age group and who approached music in almost identical ways."

The resulting sound has been acclaimed for its “remarkable transparency of texture…this clarity was due in part to their excellent intonation and partly through their thorough preparation…what set them above…was their ability to combine warmth, color, and intensity with intellectual rigor, firm rhythm and an intuitive grasp of a work’s architecture.” Music critic and historian Alfred Frankenstein wrote after attending an HSQ concert: ”This is a quartet to rank with the great international organizations in the field…it has magnificent collective tone, a superb style that overlooks no fine detail but also sweeps through the major lines of a big work with almost symphonic vigor, and a general concept of music-making that is in tradition of the ensemble.

Five years later, a New York Times concert review echoed Frankenstein's comments: the HSQ produced a “luminous tone, whether in pianissimo or fortissimo...at its best as in the Schubert work, which was played with incredible tonal nuance and expert musicianship, the Hollywood Quartet would have to be listed among the world’s great chamber music ensembles.”

Violinist Paul Shure has noted, “… we made room for each other technically and soloistically-but the blend of sound was the main thing…you draw the sound by your ability; the kind of vibrato you use, the way you apply pressure to the bow…these are all very subtle techniques in string playing." Shure has also stated: “Dynamics were a very big part of our work. Our discussions were always about dynamics and a little bit about tempi, and nothing else. We played with vibrato except where there was a particular effect to be had-no dead left hands were allowed.”

Cellist Eleanor Aller also commented: “Nothing was done without thought…it was dependent on who the composer was, and the musical content…just to play the notes is not making music.” Aller has also stated that the group practiced every day for two years before its first public concert debut.