In the latter piece, the clean ensemble and vigorous rhythmic profiling prevent the music from sounding dour, particularly in the central slow movement (from which the quartet's nickname derives). The Tempera Quartet performs both this work and the later Voces Intimae with notable liveliness and evident enthusiasm. It also shows something of that instinctive feeling for movement that the mature composer developed to such a phenomenal degree. It contains some striking anticipations of the composer we know and love, particularly in the harmonies of its slow movement and in its imaginative use of string texture (pizzicato especially).
4 (1890) is quite lovely and well worth hearing.
