 |
J.S.Q.: Still New After All These Years By SPENCER TOPEL
The Juilliard String Quartet is renowned for performing exciting and original programs. As composer Richard Wernick puts it, "The Juilliard Quartet is not the least bit intimidated by trends. They stay on their course and they play the music that they believe in." The quartet has a long history of commissioning new compositions: Over the past 50 years they have premiered more than 60 new works, many of which are written by American composers.
 |
| The Juilliard String Quartet in 2001. (Photo by Clemens Kalischer) |
|
Two of those works (with a guest artist featured in each) will be included on the quartet's upcoming pair of concerts at Alice Tully Hall, on the Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series. A few weeks before the first concert on April 13, the quartet's violist, Samuel Rhodes, and Mr. Wernick—whose Quintet for Horn and String Quartet will receive its New York premiere on that program—sat down to talk about working together and share some advice for younger artists.When asked to write a horn quintet, says Mr. Wernick, he was curious as to how many already existed. Checking at the Library of Congress, he discovered that this combination is "a very rare bird! There are just a handful from the 20th century—most of which were Italian horn pieces with an emphasis on the horn, and a sort of 'um-cha' accompaniment part in the strings."Mr. Wernick's own aim was to write something that treated the instruments far more organically and independently. As Mr. Rhodes describes the resulting work, "Wernick integrates the horn into the quartet very well, making it almost seamless with the rest of the parts. At other times, he takes advantage of the horn's heroic qualities—especially at the end of the entire work." In the course of the piece, points out Rhodes, "Wernick uses the full register of the horn, and this is very effective—especially the low register of the horn in the slow movement." William Purvis, a member of the New York Woodwind Quintet and a fellow faculty member at Juilliard, will join the Juilliard Quartet for this work (which was commissioned to celebrate the J.S.Q.'s 40th anniversary as quartet-in-residence at the Library of Congress in 2002). Another member of the New York Woodwind Quintet—clarinetist Charles Neidich—will join the J.S.Q. for its May 3 concert as guest artist in Milton Babbitt's Clarinet Quintet, a work that the five musicians premiered in 1996 during the J.S.Q.'s 50th-anniversary season. Of this piece, Mr. Rhodes says, "I admire the constant varieties in ensemble, how Milton explores every seemingly different combination of chamber ensemble imaginable between the five of us: solos, duets, trios, etc."Mr. Rhodes says of the challenges inherent in the Babbitt quintet: "When he writes extreme alterations of dynamics in a fast tempo, such as fff to ppp, Babbitt is looking for the emotion generated by the player making the attempt to do just that—although he realizes that dynamics are relative and, in this context, may not come out as extreme as they appear on the page." In addition to being a distinguished faculty member at Juilliard, Mr. Babbitt has enjoyed a long relationship with the Juilliard Quartet, which also premiered his Fourth String Quartet.
|
Juilliard String Quartet
Alice Tully Hall
Tuesday, April 12, 8 p.m.
Monday, May 3, 8 p.m.
Free tickets available in the Juilliard Box Office.
|
|
|
Broaching the subject of advice to young artists, Richard Wernick recalled a luncheon he attended a while ago with cellist Joel Krosnick and pianist Gilbert Kalish. A few young composers raised the question of how one should go about getting one's works played by the major groups. Mr. Wernick says, "We told them that it is vital that young composers work with performers their own age, so that they can grow into relationships with their peers." The importance of this is twofold: performers and composers can learn from each other, but the relationships that can be fostered over many years of contact are just as important. As Wernick puts it, "I knew the Juilliard Quartet members long before they asked me to write a piece, and when I went in to rehearse with them, the exchange was relaxed and comfortable—they knew me and I knew them."On the subject of commissioning, Mr. Rhodes offers this advice for young ensembles: "Performers interested in working with a composer should try and have an idea of the type of music they want to commission. Listen to many works of different composers and then choose. Then, enjoy the opportunity to grow in a slightly different direction than you would otherwise."For young composers, he advises: "Some composers come in and act like policemen: 'Do this … do that.' Young composers need to trust that the performers will put their piece together properly." He suggests that composers "try to describe to musicians the vision of the work, and also what they imagine versus what is played, so that the players may facilitate the process with their knowledge and imaginations." Mr. Rhodes, an accomplished composer himself, adds: "A composer's mind works differently from a performer's. As players, we are concerned with the practical elements of a piece, but a composer might think, 'Is this idea I imagined coming out the way I intended?' This is the most exciting aspect of working with a composer."Of course, the personality of an individual ensemble is also a factor in determining how a working relationship unfolds. Summing up the personality of the Juilliard String Quartet, Mr. Wernick observes that "it combines a kind of quirky sense of humor with an unbelievably intense focus on the music." On many occasions, he recalls, when they first came into the room for a rehearsal, they were laughing and joking casually; once they had their instruments in their hands, "you could feel the intensity of focus in the room."It is this seriousness in approaching all music with the same passion and intensity that has earned the Juilliard String Quartet such high honors in realm of music making. As has been observed by many critics, they play new music with the mastery and depth one would expect in familiar old works—and old pieces as if they were being heard anew.Spencer Topel will earn his master's degree in composition this May, and will be attending Cornell University in the fall.
|
