"A Piece of Pi," for example, fuses spoken music with a melody based on the digits of pi.Ī similar fusion of charm and sentiment infused the world premiere of Nathaniel Stookey's String Quartet No. The funniest riff, "Cupertino," imagines two computerized speech synthesizers trying to place one another's accents another, "Rain," uncovers a wealth of diversity in the pronunciation of a long A.Īnd although the trick of building musical textures out of speech melodies has a long pedigree (exemplified by the music of Steve Reich, Scott Johnson and other composers), this piece works some new wrinkles on the formula. In a dozen short movements spanning nearly 25 minutes, the piece moves deftly from fairly unvarnished linguistics to social commentary ("Henry in Cuffs" touches on the change in his intonation when an African American professor gets arrested), and from poignant personal commentary to out-and-out comedy. It's an exploration of language acquisition and accents, built on a collection of short taped snippets of the speech of English speakers from different locations (both American and foreign), and interwoven with string quartet music that plays off the melodies inherent in those utterances. Each musician’s double kept an eye on each other, furthering the lively musical conversation style that Takács had begun earlier in the evening.Nothing encapsulated that vivacity better than "And the Movement of the Tongue," a witty and beautifully touching new work by the experimental stalwart Pamela Z. It appears Ivalas has formed a tight musical bond with Takács over the past three years of their residency, as they played as naturally with the quartet as if they had been performing with them for many years. He then turned the microphone over to Reuben Kebede, one of the Ivalas Quartet’s violinists, who gave a speech expressing his extreme gratitude for the residency, in hopes the quartet would being able to perform at CU Boulder again soon. “Over the past three years we’ve had a fabulous and enriching time working with Ivalas,” said Takács Quartet violinist Edward Dusinberre. The Ivalas Quartet made this into heartfelt farewell as this was the final performance of their residency at CU Boulder. They did not need to verbally communicate as the instruments created a conversation far more powerful than words.Īfter a brief intermission, the quartet transformed into an octet, and the Ivalas Quartet, CU’s graduate quartet-in-residence, joined the Takács Quartet onstage welcomed by a hearty applause. Throughout the rest of the piano quintet, the artists looked to each other for their next move, viewing each other as a vital part of the musical conversation that showcased absolute cohesiveness. The quartet and Korevaar truly brought the phrase “music to one’s ears” to life. Through their interpretation, full of emotion, they conveyed feelings of sadness and tragedy as the music ebbed and flowed with transitions from E flat major to its relative minor. The musicians themselves rose and fell with the music, sometimes getting up halfway off of their stools during the crescendos and melting back down into their instruments with every diminuendo. The audience appeared so enraptured that they literally couldn’t contain their applause in between movements.Ī seat in Grusin dedicated to featured pianist and professor David Korevaar (Courtesy of Haley Lauritzen/CU Independent) The trills and turns created a lively trance, building anticipation for what would come next. Korevaar’s spritely runs felt like therapy for the soul. Each bar brought on a fantastically new and intricate melody as the artists fed off of the energy in the room and incorporated it into their vivacious performance. The first movement began as a lively jubilee with the sounds of the different instruments blossoming together, akin to the cheerful spirit of spring. To open the concert, Takács performed Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Op. As audience members filed into their seats for the final performance of Takács’ 47th season, the hall was filled with anticipation of the exciting evening of classical music pieces in E flat major. On Monday, April 11, the Takács Quartet performed with pianist David Korevaar and the Ivalas Quartet at Grusin Music Hall at University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Music. Takács Quartet and David Korevaar (Courtesy of Torshawna Chew)
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