This past Friday held the most recent installment for the "Festival Fridays" concert series, which is most usually the venue for orchestral pieces and concerti. Ray Chen played the Brahms violin concerto, and very well at that. He is quite a showman, and an excellent violinist. Though I doubt his full potential was on display due to a lack of orchestra rehearsal time (2 rehearsals just isn't enough for an orchestra that meets bi-weekly), his ensemble and attention to the group as well as himself was remarkable, and it came across in the music.
The most interesting portion of the evening for me, however, was the first half of the program. The Ying Quartet, in residence here at Bowdoin for the first three weeks, played the Beethoven "Rasoumovsky" quartet. Simply awesome.
Their performances of the fourth movement and encore of it after a 5-minute standing ovation were spectacular, but not because they were necessarily supremely accurate. Many of my colleagues here remarked that the playing in their ultra-fast rendition lacked clarity and accuracy of sound. Of course they didn't sound like they were putting their bows or fingers down willy-nilly, but not every passage was pinpoint accurate. And, I think that might have been part of what was so incredible.
Given the blistering pace at which they took the movement it was astonishing to hear how cleanly and evenly matched the transitions, thematic trades dynamics were. Despite the number of notes that were sounding there was a constant sensibility of long lines and big, beautiful phrases that were built from the twittering beneath. The energy was palpable while they were playing and the way that each performer was able to communicate with the others was magical. That magic, that unspoken, inarticulable connection, is what made the music come alive. By "talking" to eachother on stage they brought the whole audience with them.
As a composer I am one step removed from that. I can't make sure of any performer constantly reaching that place, and to expect it would be unrealistic. But, there may be a way to do that on the page - to push things along in a way. Making that discourse happen on my manuscript paper is now explicitly and precisely part of what I am working towards with my music.
I'll let you know when I figure it out...
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Off to Acadia National Park (and maybe a little Bar Harbor). Pictures forthcoming!
1 comment:
The fourth movement was pure schmaltz... (as a New Yorker, I'll assume you've heard the word :))... when have I ever seen a cellist kicking both feet up off the floor except in an Apocalyptica concert? Never! It was an extraordinary performance across the board. I was particularly taken by the second movement for it's deliberate beauty. That wasn't just pizzicato... that was love.
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