It is sometimes said that the string quartet is the most difficult form of chamber music. The two violinists, viola and cello must form a harmonic whole, the individual string players must be perfectly attuned to each other. Great string quartets from the twentieth century each had their own sound. Amadeus quartet, Alban Berg Quartet, Guarneri Quartet, the Hungarian Takácskvartet, the Quartetto Italiano or the Quatuor Mosaïques, each had their own image and tone. Sometimes a quartet exists for decades under the same name but the musicians change. Sometimes it remains the original musicians who play in the same quartet their entire lives.
Stamp printed
In 1976, young violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer decided to look for a cellist and viola player in New York. They quickly found their quartet mates David Finckel (cello) and Lawrence Dutton (viola). They named their string quartet after Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the most important American poets and thinkers of the nineteenth century. The two violinists alternated from the beginning as first and second violin, which was unheard of and is still not common today. Actually, they both wanted to play the middle voice of the second violin, so alternately playing first was actually second choice for both...
Drucker and Setzer were both students of the legendary Oscar Schumsky and were both finalists of the Elisabeth competition in 1976. In more than forty years they built a worldwide reputation. Awarded nine grammy's and many other prizes, they were regarded as excellence in the world of the string quartet. After 47 years of quartet playing, they gave their final concert on October 22, 2023 at Lincoln center in New York. Drucker and Setzer have left their mark on half a century of quartet history with the Emerson Quartet.
Luna De Mol and the Fibonacci quartet
I myself have always regarded the Emerson as a kind of ideal when I listen to a string quartet. Also in Flanders, young new quartets are emerging. Violinist Luna De Mol is a young supertalent who, together with three young string players, has founded the Fibonacci Quartet. Together she forms the quartet with a Czech, a Welshman and a Scot, and they study at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid with Guenter Pichler, former violist of the Alban Berg Quartet. They are also coached by Marc Danel of the Danel quartet. They have already won several prestigious awards. Although they are still students, they are considered one of Europe's leading young string quartets.
Why Fibonacci? Who knows the Fibonacci number sequence? The Fibonacci sequence (the golden ratio) is a perfect example of the relationship between mathematics and art in both natural and human-developed phenomena. Even the shape of the violin is based on it. This genius stands alongside Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. For a failed mathematician like myself, I find the name of this quartet particularly inventive.
Der Sturm und das Mädchen
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© Willem Erauw[/caption]
At the Arte Amanti concert on February 18 in Sint-Jacobskerk in Kemzeke, they play the fourth quartet by Béla Bartók and "Der Tod und das Mädchen" by Schubert. Bartók's fourth quartet is a monster, it's as if a heathen storm blows through the church, a whirlwind of rough chunks of brilliant musical phrases, inspired by old Hungarian folk melodies. First violinist Kryštof Kohout also has his roots in Central Europe and we hear it. He plays his heart out. After this quartet, they leave the audience astounded. Still students, but what a stunning, masterful interpretation. What expression! What audacity, because a quartet by Bartók is always a great challenge, especially in terms of rhythm and polyrhythm!
After a short break they return for Schubert's "Der Tod und das Mädchen". And what do we see, not the Czech anymore, but Mädchen Luna De Mol now plays the first violin. They alternate, just like the Emerson Quartet! This fourteenth quartet by Schubert is one of the most difficult and most delicate ever composed for string quartet. If only Luna can survive this, I think. A different first violin also gives a different tonal color and profile to the quartet. Luna and her mates pull it off brilliantly. Superlatives are not enough. Not perfect like the Emerson, but the glow, the enthusiasm and the dynamism were astounding. A concert that blows you away. A concert that makes a person happy.
Desguin quartet
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© Desguin Quartet[/caption]
The next day, another young and promising quartet performs in the Ghent Miryzaal. The Desguin quartet was founded in 2017 at the Antwerp conservatory, hence the name. They too were coached by the Alban Berg and the Danel quartet. On the programme is Haydn op.20 nr.4, the American quartet by Dvořak and a work by Arian Sadrayi, a composer who is alive and well in the hall.
This Haydn quartet lacks the spirited and piquant character of his later quartets; it is more melodious, calmer, music to ponder. Very solid quartet playing from the Desguin. Here no alternating violinists, as with Emerson or Fibonacci. But through his dynamism and mimicry, second violinist Ludovic Bataille puts himself more in the spotlight than the first violinist. He also leads the works with a smooth chat. The composer himself also takes to the stage briefly to explain his work "... and the last is being eaten by the ants". In this static, serene work, the Desguin quartet shows to best advantage. The well-known American quartet by Dvořak, on the other hand, lacks some fire and adventure. Especially after yesterday's experience with the Fibonacci. On the other hand, I heard no intonation impurities whatsoever from these seasoned musicians. As Beethoven already said, an out-of-tune note pales in comparison to a convincing performance. That is why I am more charmed and convinced by the Fibonacci at my quartet two-day festival.