Posted on by tjphilbrick

Emerson #3

Hello all,

This week’s music is Bela Bartok’s third string quartet, performed by the renowned Emerson String Quartet.

Ask any musician over forty what they think of when they hear the words “Emerson String Quartet” and they will probably tell you they think of the Bartok recordings. The first of the Emerson’s nine Grammy awards came for their recording of the six Bartok string quartets in 1988. At the time, the Emerson was the only ensemble who had ever attempted the Herculean task of recording all six.

Bartok’s third string quartet, written during the 1920s, synthesizes his love of Hungarian folk tunes and the raw physicality of his late modernist style. Bartok seemed to have a way of making dissonance sound punchy, exciting, almost dance-like. You’ll hear this throughout the quartet, juxtaposed with smooth, nocturnal conversations between the instruments and surging outbursts of physicality. Listen for the way Bartok incorporates unique string-playing techniques like glissandos (slides), pizzicato (plucking), harmonics, and con sordino (playing behind the bridge) into the music.

Enjoy!

T

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Bartok By Myself

Hello all,

This week’s music is the Sonata for Solo Violin by Bela Bartok, performed by the Albanian virtuoso Tedi Papavrami.

The mid-20th-century violinist Yehudi Menuhin asked Bartok to write a solo violin sonata for him to perform. Bartok was undergoing treatment for leukemia in Asheville, North Carolina, but he nonetheless agreed to write the sonata. When he showed the score to Menuhin for the first time, Menuhin was stunned. The piece was unplayable, he said. After a few revisions, Menuhin finally agreed to attempt it.

This is arguably the hardest piece ever written for the violin. Four-string chords are littered throughout the score, and the double-finger harmonics and massive harmonic intervals are enough to send most violinists into a panic. Papavrami, who came to fame as a child prodigy, meets the challenge exceptionally well. His technical mastery of the instrument is nothing short of astounding.

Those of you who have been with us for a while here at This Week’s Music may remember the famous sonatas for solo violin written by J.S. Bach. The truly dedicated listeners among us may also remember the sonatas for solo violin written – in homage to Bach – by the Belgian violinist Ysaye. This week’s music also fits in that tradition. It emulates Bach’s violin sonatas, including a complex Fugue, a light-footed Presto, a somber Adagio, and a monumental Ciaconna (Chaconne). This last movement is particularly prescient, for Bach’s most famous work for violin is the Ciaconna from the D-Minor Partita for Solo Violin.

Enjoy!

T