Parker String Quartet

THE PARKER CAPTURES DEMANDING ADES QUARTET AT RAC SEBASTOPOL CONCERT

The New England-based Parker Quartet was heard Feb. 15 as part of the Redwood Arts Council's concert series, in the acoustically rewarding Sebastopol Community Church.

As is the practice at the RAC, the concert was opened by a local musician, Korean flautist Sungdu Bae, studying at Sonoma State University. Mr. Bae played a transcription of Paganini’s 24th Caprice in A Minor, a theme (just 16 measures) and variations presented a transcription of violinist and composer Paganini's Caprice no. 24 in A Minor. The last of the 24 Caprices of his opus 1, it's a theme and variations. The flutist managed
to convey the pyrotechnics and virtuosity of the work, including using grace notes to present the octaves of Variation 3. It was a heartfelt, as well as technically flawless performance, and was rewarded with a standing ovation.

Born in 1871, Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky inhabited a period of remarkable transition in classical music. While rooted in the Romantic traditions, he was an also contemporary of Ravel, and while much of his A Major Quartet, Op. 4, composed at age 25, reflected romantic, and in some passages even Brahmsian, idioms, it also contains harmonic ideas that would not have been out of place among the French Impressionist composers. The Parker’s performance was striking, from the first movement onward, not only for its strong and enthusiastic interpretation of the initial theme, but the delicacy of its contrasting pianissimos.

The second movement was somewhat scherzo-like, the second introduced with the three upper strings playing con sordino (muted) with the cello not adding its mute until later in the movement; this also seemed the movement with the most frequent use of harmonies departing from the Romantic norm. The following Breit und kräftig, perhaps the most interesting, also had moments of Debussy-like rhythms and harmonies, and transitioned from peaceful to almost melodramatic moods and back again; the concluding movement was cheerful and melodic, sometimes halting for effect for a moment (a “grand pause” in the score) before ending in a joyful coda.

It seems odd that Zemlinsky's many works aren't better known today, as the music represents the end of an era. It would not be long before his friend and Viennese contemporary, Schoenberg, would dramatically change 20th Century music.

Perhaps reflecting the shift toward modernism in Europe, the Parker turned toward contemporary British composer, Thomas Adés, for his The Four Quarters. It was premiered in 2011 and was inspired by four Corot paintings, representing four different times of day.The first Quarter (“Nightfall”) is somewhat mysterious, opening with high natural harmonics in the violins over diminished harmonies in the viola and cello with sudden stillness suggesting the gathering darkness as the movement fades away. The second, “Morning Dew,” begins with Ravel-like pizzicato from all four players, then transitions to a rhythmically bowed section before returning to pizzicato.

“Days” begins the third movement tranquilly over a pulsing irregular rhythm (try as I might to count the beats, I was unable to figure out the changing meter) but swells to a foreboding climax, reminiscent of the 5/4
“Mars” movement of Gustav Holst's “The Planets, with all members playing the rhythm fortissimo together before once again fading to a quiet finish. The last movement,“The Twenty-Fifth Hour” is played in an appropriate, if not easy to follow, 25/4 meter, beginning with high artificial violin harmonics but finally ending with an unexpected pianissimo major key chord resolution.

Overall, this was not necessarily the easiest piece to listen to, and certainly a departure from the program’s conventional quartets that “bookended” it, but the Parker Quartet played with emotion and technical proficiency. If the first half of the program went from the post-romantic to the contemporary, the second
returned solidly to the heart of the late romantic with Brahms's B-Flat Major Quartet, Op. 67. Brahms had long been fascinated with this form, publishing only three: the two of Opus 51 in 1873 and the final Op. 67 work performed today.

In comparison to the two Opus 51 quartets, The B-Flat Major one is almost lighthearted (or at least as
lighthearted as Brahms ever could be) and shows a bit of Hungarian influence. Particularly impressive was the way the upper strings synchronized their 16th (and, in one bar, even 32nd) note runs. The second movement was played with tonal elegance. The third, marked agitato, follows string quartet convention in being in 3/4 time, but is not in the least minuet-like. Instead, the melody, in the relative key of D Minor, is given initially to the viola, with the other strings playing muted. Although Brahm's score calls for the entire movement to be reprised prior to a final 18 bar coda, few modern quartets perform it this way.

The two inner movements of this splendid work may be darker in tone, but in the finale one returns to the original key for a cheerful theme and variations, with excursions into D minor, D flat and G flat major before quoting themes from the first and second movements and returning to the home key.

Ironically, Brahms dedicated this Quartet to an amateur cellist friend, but the cello part never actually has the melody throughout the entire piece. In a letter to the dedicatee, Brahms wrote “This quartet rather resembles your wife—very dainty, but brilliant!”