Spring Break
Parker String Quartet skillfully plays the BMA
Issue date: 10/11/07
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Performing in a small ensemble is different from performing in any other way. In a full orchestra, you can depend on the hundred or so performers on stage with you. If you miss a note here and there, or if your mind wanders off for a minute, you can easily rejoin the group and find your place. If you are playing a solo, you can make a mistake, and it'll affect you and you alone. When working in a small ensemble, every part has a voice. Every part is heard, and if one person makes a mistake, it throws off the focus of the entire group.
Communication between every performer is key, and that is perhaps the reason why the Parker String Quartet is considered one of the most foremost chamber ensembles of our generation. The performance wasn't perfect, but the performers' ability to communicate made the pieces come to life.
As the members of the quartet walked onto the stage, it was difficult to tell what to expect. Neither the women nor the men were in matching uniform, and to my surprise, the lead violinist sat down on a piano bench.
The quartet started off the concert with a traditional quartet piece, a Haydn : Quartet in F Major, Op. 77, No.2. Haydn was responsible for giving birth to the genre of the string quartet. He wrote a great number of quartet pieces, this one being special because the
"Menuetto," which is usually the third movement, was the second movement, clearly identifying the need for an emphasis on the importance of the second movement. The performers' emphasis on dynamic contrast gave a breath of life to a piece that is usually performed with no spirit. In the sections that called for a forte, the quartet generated enough strength to make you believe that an orchestra was performing. In the sections that called for a piano, the balance was heavenly. The Parker Quartet breezed through No.2, was by Gyorgy Ligeti, a Hungarian composer most famous for having his pieces featured in the movies 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining.
Communication between every performer is key, and that is perhaps the reason why the Parker String Quartet is considered one of the most foremost chamber ensembles of our generation. The performance wasn't perfect, but the performers' ability to communicate made the pieces come to life.
As the members of the quartet walked onto the stage, it was difficult to tell what to expect. Neither the women nor the men were in matching uniform, and to my surprise, the lead violinist sat down on a piano bench.
The quartet started off the concert with a traditional quartet piece, a Haydn : Quartet in F Major, Op. 77, No.2. Haydn was responsible for giving birth to the genre of the string quartet. He wrote a great number of quartet pieces, this one being special because the
"Menuetto," which is usually the third movement, was the second movement, clearly identifying the need for an emphasis on the importance of the second movement. The performers' emphasis on dynamic contrast gave a breath of life to a piece that is usually performed with no spirit. In the sections that called for a forte, the quartet generated enough strength to make you believe that an orchestra was performing. In the sections that called for a piano, the balance was heavenly. The Parker Quartet breezed through No.2, was by Gyorgy Ligeti, a Hungarian composer most famous for having his pieces featured in the movies 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining.
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