Brentano Quartet Makes Sense Out of Dissonance

Author: Richard Lawless

The lavish and technically astounding sounds of the Brentano String Quartet filled the Middlebury College Concert Hall Saturday night. The evening's program revolved around a musical piece called a fugue, which is a composition consisting of a theme and subsequent repetitions of that theme in different forms and voices. In particular, the quartet focused on Johan Sebastian Bach's famous "Art of Fugue."
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the quartet commissioned 10 composers to each write a brief musical reflection on a particular section, or contrapunctus, of Bach's piece. The quartet mixed the modern with the classical, performing each contemporary composer's piece in addition to the Bach contrapunctus upon which it was based.
Dressed in elegant formal attire, the Brentano Quartet, composed of violinist Mak Steinberg, violinist Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory and cellist Nine Maria Lee, took the stage and seated themselves, their instruments poised. The concert began with Nicholas Maw's "Intrada," a response to Bach's "Contrapunctus I." Commencing with a cloud of dischord, Maw's piece ventured through large variations in rhythm and pitch, before the quartet launched into Bach's piece.
The second piece performed was Eric Zivian's "Double Fugue," which used complex yet melodic passages, subverting the theme from Bach's "Contrapunctus IV" to intricate rhythms.
The Brentano Quartet played Charles Wuorinen's "ALAP" next. Taking its name from the first section of an Indian composition called a "raga," the piece was punctuated by the plucking of strings, while the melody came in and out of existence in dissonant fragments. The piece was succeeded by its counterpart, Bach's "Contrapunctus IX."
The fourth set of pieces commenced with Shulamit Ran's "Bach-Shards." Opening with a tensely held sustained note, the aptly titled piece evoked the image of shards of music scratching each other in chaotic encounters, contrasting sharply with the melodic highs of Bach's "Contrapunctus X."
While the audience recovered from the excitingly twisted and unusual sounds of the first four pieces, the quartet embarked on perhaps the most thrilling set of pieces of the first half: Bach's "Contrapunctus XVIII" and Sofia Gubaidulina's "Reflections on the Theme B-A-C-H."
In the program, Bach's "Contrapunctus XVIII" is listed as "unfinished"; this designation is surprisingly accurate, as the piece's carefully-crafted blend of strings suddenly ceases, marking its abrupt end.
Gubaidulina's piece was chaotic, consisting of truly alien-sounding passages obscured with screaming violins and punctuated with extended periods of silence.
The silence almost seemed to serve as a balance to the chaotic flourishes of ghostly strings. The air crackled with taut energy as the piece drew to a close, and soon the silence was filled with rapturous applause.
The second half began with the coupling of Bach's "Contrapunctus XII" and Wynton Marsalis' "Fugue." Marsalis' piece bristled with complexity, yet restrained the melodic prowess of Bach's piece, with only slight touches of dissonance.
The next set of pieces consisted of Bach's "Contrapunctus II" and its response, Bruce Adolphe's "ContraDictions."
Besides bearing one of the more whimsical titles of the evening's catalogue, Adolphe's composition alternated between the extremities of high and low pitches, and shifted between the chaotic and the peaceful.
David Horne's "Subterfuge," based upon Bach's "Contrapunctus VI," commenced with plucked strings and ethereal tones before leaping into eerie passages of tumult. The climax of the piece was when the quartet switched from ghostly, sustained notes to the intense striking of its instruments, highlighting the piece's stormy tone.
The next set of pieces began with Bach's "Contrapunctus VII," which led into Chou Wen-chung's "Contrapunctus Variabilis I." The highlights of Chou's composition included an ominous opening with a sea-like quality, where waves of melody crashed into each other and then culminated with a forceful finish.
The final piece of the evening took a different approach, interspersing Bach's "Contrapunctus XI" with Steven Mackey's response, entitled "Lude." This piece, like all the ones before it, gave the Brentano String Quartet a chance to shine, making their four instruments sound more like 40. Feeling much like a battle between past and present, Bach and modernity, Mackey's dissonant flourishes and abundant sounds gave way to Bach's melodic yet more restricted passages before Mackey's notes took over once again.
The quartet was greeted with celebratory applause upon completing its set, concluding an invigorating and musically stimulating performance.
The Brentano String Quartet formed 10 years ago and has been critically praised ever since. Internationally recognized for their excellence, the quartet has received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the 10th Annual Martin E. Segal Award, along with many others.
Since 1995 the quartet has been in residence at New York University (NYU), and continues to play at the most prestigious of venues both here and abroad. In the future, the quartet plans to record the compositions of Steven Mackey, as well as continue to invest its interests in modern music.
Wherever the road takes the Brentano Quartet in the coming years, let's hope that Middlebury College will be a stop along the way.