KEY POINTS:
The unwary could be forgiven for thinking the opening bars of Alfred Hill's Maori Quartet were by Dvorak.
Hill's second movement, titled Waiata, with its tricky metrics, admits Tchaikovsky as a distinct influence. It is certainly far removed from anything you might hear on a marae.
Alfred Hill (1869-1960) is our first major composer, cherished for the quaint biculturalism of the twirling Waiata Poi, but he was also prolific in the fields of symphonies and chamber music.
The Dominion Quartet's first volume of his string quartets suggest that the remaining 14 quartets are to follow.
These first three works are graceful, tuneful affairs, written when European music was in ferment, yet the nearest Hill comes to acknowledging his times is a Debussian karakia motif in the second quartet, A Maori Legend in Four Scenes.
Hill's style is ultra-descriptive here, with tremolo forest glades, pizzicato woodpeckers and a rather well-mannered taniwha. The festivities in its Finale could well be another folk-dance discovered along the way during Smetana's famous Moldau cruise.
Nevertheless, one cannot fault the ambition in Hill's carefully worked out programmes and thematic transformations.
Wayne Laird's recording is clear and responsive, although the Wellington-based ensemble displays too many rough edges, especially between the violins.
The music may be tougher on the Zehetmair Quartet's new pairing of Bartok and Hindemith but the playing is ineffably smoother.
There is no need to fear Bartok's Fifth Quartet in the hands of Thomas Zehetmair and his colleagues - relax into the Bulgarian sway of its scherzo and thrill to the surging Finale.
Hindemith was proud that his Fourth Quartet was audience-friendly. A suggested starting point is the central movement, with what almost sounds like misty sax solos.
Venture outwards to the intoxicating energy of its second and fourth movements and then enjoy the gentle, sometimes playful counterpoint that opens and closes the work.
With ECM's unstinting attention to sonic detail, this is a distinguished entry in the label's New Series catalogue.
* Alfred Hill, String Quartets Vol. 1 (Naxos 8.570491)
Zehetmair Quartet play Bartok & Hindemith (ECM 4765779, through Ode Records)
