Aizuri Quartet. Photo by Erica Lyn
We in the Aizuri Quartet are very excited about our time at The Met this year as the 2017–18 MetLiveArts Quartet in Residence, and especially so for our upcoming concert in the Vélez Blanco Patio on Friday, December 1. We're unabashed enthusiasts of all things string quartet, and pride ourselves on the passion and attention to detail that go into our programs, rehearsals, and performances. We want our residency to be a hotbed of creative energy: This is an incredible opportunity to learn repertoire on our bucket list, find intriguing program combinations, collaborate with artists across disciplines and styles, and to share all of this with our hometown New York City audience.
In 2017 we are connected to the world in every aspect of our lives, so it is difficult to imagine living and working in isolation, which is the theme for our concert on Friday. The music in this program spans 800 years and showcases the expression and experimentation that resulted from five composers funneling undivided energy into their craft.
We will open our program with vocal works by Hildegard von Bingen and Carlo Gesualdo that are as different as night and day, all of which were arranged for us by our dear friend Alex Fortes. Hildegard's 12th-century chant Columba aspexit transports us to a mystical and ecstatic world with soaring lines and text that describes pure water, eagle's wings, and a mirror of light. The Renaissance composer Gesualdo is probably most well-known for murdering his first wife and her lover and his subsequent depression. In stark contrast to the Hildegard, his language depicts extreme emotions with phrases like, "I shall forever languish in painful laments." He adds to the drama with jarringly chromatic passages that often arrive without warning.
The quartet rehearses Hildegard von Bingen's Columba aspexit at Salvia Hall in Yokohama, Japan. Video courtesy of the artists
Haydn's String Quartet in C Major, op. 20, no. 2, may initially feel simple after the harmonic eccentricities of Gesualdo, but the "Father of the String Quartet" still has some tricks up his sleeve. The quartets he wrote while working in seclusion at the court of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy are gems that surprise listeners with his trademark wit. We chose this quartet because we love the operatic slow movement and the spirited finale.
American-born Conlon Nancarrow moved to Mexico in 1940 to avoid persecution due to his leftist political leanings. While living in isolation he became fascinated with the player piano, which allowed him to write complicated rhythmic patterns without worrying about human error. When a composer with this kind of mindset writes a piece for live performers, the musicians practically need seat belts! The word that comes to mind with Nancarrow's Third Quartet is "zany." It is technically a round (think "Row, row, row your boat"), so we have four "boats" traveling down the same river but the water underneath each is moving at a different speed. The four instruments connect at points along the way and end up at the same destination, but there is a precarious balance between listening to and completely ignoring each other.
We felt it would be fitting to close our program of wild experiments and personal musical missives with Beethoven's Grosse Fuge. At the end of his life, as his deafness increasingly cut him off from the outside world, Beethoven wrote to satisfy his ambitious and creative muse. He never particularly cared if musicians found his music impossible to play; he even once told a preeminent violinist of the time, "Do you suppose I am thinking about your wretched fiddle when the spirit moves me?" There are some pieces of music that are difficult but need to sound effortless; in the monumental Grosse Fuge, however, navigating the physical and emotional struggles is part of the performance. Beethoven steers the quartet dangerously close to a black hole, and yet reaching the end together is like emerging triumphant from the trials we face in our daily lives.
We hope to see you on Friday!
To purchase tickets to Aizuri Quartet: Music and Isolation or any other MetLiveArts event, visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets; call 212-570-3949; or stop by the Great Hall Box Office, open Monday–Saturday, 10:30 am–3:30 pm.