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Why listen to BartÓ³k?
Meiravi Quartet contemplates BartÓ³k
Tom Purdom
Kile Smith recently argued in these pages that we should ignore a composer's political and religious attitudes and concentrate on the composer's music and personality. (Click here.) Other BSR readers and writers have weighed in with their thoughts on the relationship, usually in general agreement with Kile Smith's position.
My own pronouncements on the topic have adopted my customary wishy-washy stance.
Peter Nocella turned my thoughts in that direction once again, when he introduced BartÓ³k's second string quartet at the Meiravi Quartet's recent concert at the Academy of Vocal Arts. BartÓ³k's quartet pits folk-like melodies against violent staccato rhythms, which Nocella sees as a conflict between traditional folk culture and the machine age that was destroying the old ways in BartÓ³k's time (1881-1945).
Whose vision?
You could certainly hear that conflict in the quartet, and it may well have represented BartÓ³k's attitude, given his interest in folk music. But Nocella's thesis could be a useful commentary on the quartet even if you completely disagreed with it.
To present a fully realized performance of a work, musicians must develop an overall vision of it. In an orchestra, the conductor furnishes the vision. In a string quartet, the individual musicians must work it out for themselves and develop a common view.
Those musicians don't have to agree with the literal truth of a vision like Novella's. One member of the quartet might view the BartÓ³k as an interaction between moods. Another may see it as a formal interaction between two kinds of themes. The important thing is a general agreement that the interplay is a significant aspect of the piece.
Drive and tension
Nocella's thesis can help listeners in the audience in the same way, if they don't apply it too rigorously. It occurred to me, while I was listening, that you could hear the second movement as a blending of the vitality of the traditional culture and the dynamism of the industrial age. But that was only a passing thought. Most of the time I was simply reacting to the drive and tension inherent in BartÓ³k's music.
The Mozart quartet that followed the BartÓ³k didn't need any political or religious connections. We listen to it for the music itself and the overall grace and elegance that it communicates.
The afternoon ended with the scherzo movement of a new quartet that Nocella is unveiling one movement at a time, before the Meiravis plays the whole work at the end of this season. The quartet is part of a series named after colors; Nocella calls it Green— a color he associates it with nature.
In his notes, Nocella says the quartet contrasts "a chilly winter's night" with "its fully alert, bustling daytime counterpart." I would describe it as a contrast between driving passages that reminded me of Shostakovich and lighter, more lilting episodes.
New group, old faces
The Meiravi Quartet is a new foursome, just beginning its second season, but it consists of veteran musicians who've played together for years. I decided they might be worth a look when I learned that Igor Szwec occupies the first violin chair and Vivian Barton Dozor plays cello.
Szwec and Dozor are two of Philadelphia's most active freelancers. Szwec is a veteran mainstay of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and a familiar figure at events presented by a list of organizations that includes Orchestra 2001, the Opera Company and the Academy of Vocal Arts. Dozor maintains a similar schedule in addition to playing the viola da gamba and the Baroque cello at period instrument concerts.
The Meiravi's second violin, Gregory Teperman, is another busy freelancer. I know him mostly for his work in the American Society of Ancient Instruments, where he played the second member of the viol family, the viola d'amore.
Alternative to Andy Reid
They scheduled the concert for the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I suspect, because it's a weekend when no other Philadelphia musical organization performs. On most other weekends, the four Meiravis would all be filling freelance commitments.
Their quartet may be new, but they already intermesh with a skill that captured the essence of all the pieces on the program. They provided chamber music fans with their traditional Sunday afternoon treat on a day when we might otherwise have been forced to stay home and watch the Eagles. For these and other blessings, let us give thanks.
My own pronouncements on the topic have adopted my customary wishy-washy stance.
Peter Nocella turned my thoughts in that direction once again, when he introduced BartÓ³k's second string quartet at the Meiravi Quartet's recent concert at the Academy of Vocal Arts. BartÓ³k's quartet pits folk-like melodies against violent staccato rhythms, which Nocella sees as a conflict between traditional folk culture and the machine age that was destroying the old ways in BartÓ³k's time (1881-1945).
Whose vision?
You could certainly hear that conflict in the quartet, and it may well have represented BartÓ³k's attitude, given his interest in folk music. But Nocella's thesis could be a useful commentary on the quartet even if you completely disagreed with it.
To present a fully realized performance of a work, musicians must develop an overall vision of it. In an orchestra, the conductor furnishes the vision. In a string quartet, the individual musicians must work it out for themselves and develop a common view.
Those musicians don't have to agree with the literal truth of a vision like Novella's. One member of the quartet might view the BartÓ³k as an interaction between moods. Another may see it as a formal interaction between two kinds of themes. The important thing is a general agreement that the interplay is a significant aspect of the piece.
Drive and tension
Nocella's thesis can help listeners in the audience in the same way, if they don't apply it too rigorously. It occurred to me, while I was listening, that you could hear the second movement as a blending of the vitality of the traditional culture and the dynamism of the industrial age. But that was only a passing thought. Most of the time I was simply reacting to the drive and tension inherent in BartÓ³k's music.
The Mozart quartet that followed the BartÓ³k didn't need any political or religious connections. We listen to it for the music itself and the overall grace and elegance that it communicates.
The afternoon ended with the scherzo movement of a new quartet that Nocella is unveiling one movement at a time, before the Meiravis plays the whole work at the end of this season. The quartet is part of a series named after colors; Nocella calls it Green— a color he associates it with nature.
In his notes, Nocella says the quartet contrasts "a chilly winter's night" with "its fully alert, bustling daytime counterpart." I would describe it as a contrast between driving passages that reminded me of Shostakovich and lighter, more lilting episodes.
New group, old faces
The Meiravi Quartet is a new foursome, just beginning its second season, but it consists of veteran musicians who've played together for years. I decided they might be worth a look when I learned that Igor Szwec occupies the first violin chair and Vivian Barton Dozor plays cello.
Szwec and Dozor are two of Philadelphia's most active freelancers. Szwec is a veteran mainstay of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and a familiar figure at events presented by a list of organizations that includes Orchestra 2001, the Opera Company and the Academy of Vocal Arts. Dozor maintains a similar schedule in addition to playing the viola da gamba and the Baroque cello at period instrument concerts.
The Meiravi's second violin, Gregory Teperman, is another busy freelancer. I know him mostly for his work in the American Society of Ancient Instruments, where he played the second member of the viol family, the viola d'amore.
Alternative to Andy Reid
They scheduled the concert for the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I suspect, because it's a weekend when no other Philadelphia musical organization performs. On most other weekends, the four Meiravis would all be filling freelance commitments.
Their quartet may be new, but they already intermesh with a skill that captured the essence of all the pieces on the program. They provided chamber music fans with their traditional Sunday afternoon treat on a day when we might otherwise have been forced to stay home and watch the Eagles. For these and other blessings, let us give thanks.
What, When, Where
Meiravi Quartet: BartÓ³k, String Quartet No. 2 in a minor; Mozart, String Quartet No. 23 in F Major; Nocella, String Quartet No. 3 in Green (Movement III); Igor Szwec, Gregory Teperman, violins; Peter Nocella, viola; Vivian Barton Dozor, cello. November 25, 2012 at Academy of the Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce St. (610) 662-7000 or www.meiraviquartet.com.
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