Calder String Quartet

ADÉS' ARCADIANA HIGHLIGHTS CALDER QUARTET CONCERT IN MILL VALLEY CHAMBER SERIES

The Calder Quartet saved the day Nov. 4 by stepping in at last minute to play for the Mill Valley Chamber Music Society’s second concert of this season. Originally set to appear was the Prague-based Prazak Quartet which cancelled due to an ill violinist. The Calder Quartet had performed the previous night in Berkeley. In the East Bay concert substantial works were programmed, including Bartok’s 1934 Fifth Quartet, Adés' The Four Quarters and three Conlon Nancarrow pieces. With such a daunting program Saturday night, one would predict the Quartet to be exhausted on Sunday.

But there was no sign of fatigue in the group’s fiery performance at the Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church. The Calder’s recital featured a lesser known Stravinsky work, Three Pieces for String Quartet, Mozart’s “Dissonant” Quartet , contemporary composer Thomas Adés’ Arcadiana, and finally Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in F minor, Op 80. The Calder Quartet was engaging from the very first notes of the concert up until its final chords. There were no dull moments.

The three Stravinsky movements are miniatures, with a total performance time of roughly seven minutes. Second violinist Andrew Bulbrook commented that it is the shortest quartet in the ensemble’s repertoire. It starts with a rustic dance, featuring drum effects played by cellist Eric Byers, and bagpipe-like drones in the viola, played by Jonathan Moerschel. In typical Stravinsky style, the meter is irregular, alternating one bar in three with two bars in two. The dance was over in less than a minute. According to Mr. Bulbrook, the second movement, appropriately entitled Eccentrique, was inspired by a clown Stravinsky knew. The movement drifts capriciously from one character to the next, sometimes prankish, at others burlesque, and at some points almost carnival-like. The writing requires great rhythmic precision from the performers. The last movement, entitled Cantique, suggests an austere Orthodox Church hymn.

Mozart’s well-known C major Quartet, K. 465, followed and is arguably one of Mozart’s most romantic works. The first movement starts with a peculiarly chromatic introduction, the cellist beginning with ominous low bass C’s as the violist and second violin enter. The key is vague at first, and in the second measure, just as the three instruments begin to suggest the harmony of C minor, the first violin enters with a surprising and out of place A-natural, creating the dissonance that earned the work its nickname. The slow introduction continues in this fashion and the key remains ambiguous until resolving into the bright and effervescent C major. The Calder Quartet’s performance of the second movement, an Andante cantabile suggesting a sweet and flowing operatic aria, was the highlight of this performance.

The other standard on the program, Mendelssohn’s F minor String Quartet op. 80, was the composer’s last major work. He composed it in memory of his recently deceased sister Fanny, also pianist and composer. Mr. Bulbrook commented to the audience that the death of Mendelssohn’s sister drove the composer to “new romantic heights.” This served as the program’s finale, and the ensemble delivered it with fire and bravura, with particularly fine playing from first violinist Benjamin Jacobson, whose role in this work was akin to that of the soloist in a violin concerto.

But the main event of the evening, by far, was the Calder’s performance of British composer Thomas Adés’ first string quartet, Arcadiana. The Calder has made its name from being the quartet of choice for some of today’s leading composers: Christopher Rouse, Terry Riley, and of course Mr. Adés. The last been hailed as the greatest British composer since Benjamin Britten. Mr. Adés’ new opera “The Tempest” was mounted at the Metropolitan Opera this season to critical acclaim.

Six of the seven movements of Arcadiana are what the composer calls “vanished or vanishing ‘idylls’.” The first movement is a Venetian gondola song and, along with the other odd-numbered movements is aquatic in theme. The second movement, Das klinget so herrlich, das klinget so schon, takes us to the idyll of Mozart’s kingdom of night. The third movement, Auf dem Wasser zu singen, returns the listener to the aquatic realm and the title is directly taken from one of Schubert’s most beloved songs. In this work, the sound of water is expressed through pizzicato “drips” and “drops” in all four instruments. The fourth movement, tango mortale, serves as the work’s interlude. The 5th movement, again aquatic in theme, is based on a famous painting in the Louvre, “L’Embarquement,” often called “The Embarkation for Cythera”. This painting is associated with Debussy’s piano work L'isle Joyeuse, and in the movement we heard lush and colorful harmonies reminiscent of Debussy and Ravel, and it was elegantly played.

The sixth movement, O Albion, was the most familiar in quality, reminiscent of Elgar’s Nimrod from the Enigma Variations. Arcadiana takes us finally to movement seven, Lethe, the river of oblivion, beyond which there is no return. The Calder Quartet’s performance was lucid and engaging, sometimes fiery and diabolic, and at other times dreamy and impressionistic. Performing this kaleidoscopic piece alongside the variety of other works on the program demonstrated the Calder’s mastery and versatility.

Clearly the Calder Quartet were the heroes of the day, not just for the last-minute substitution, but equally for performing a daring and virtuoso program.