Also yellow squash, onions and first Sun Gold tomatoes. But the poor sweet peas are rapidly succumbing to something killing the vines from the ground on up.
July 19, 2008
In the Garden Now
The New Zealand String Quartet
Monday The New Zealand String Quartet gave a concert. They scheduled it on purpose during the Suzuki Institute. The first violin player, Helene Pohl, grew up in Ithaca and attended this institute. The quartet has been coming each summer for a number of years. An older friend I saw at the concert said: “It is always wonderful to see them, though I am heartily sick of hearing them play Mendelssohn”. That is because the quartet have set themselves the task of recording all of Felix Mendelssohn’s string quartets in a three volume CD set. Volume one was released in March.
The Pieces
The ‘programme’ was wonderfully set out. First played was String Quartet in E flat Major Opus 0 (1823); the first string quartet M ever wrote –at age 14! In it were influences of all the major composers of his day: Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Bach. We liked the third movement, the Menuetto and Trio, best. It reminded us of little birds.
Next up was String Quartet Op81. Written in 1847, this was the last quartet M ever wrote, soon after his sister, “his other ears”, died in February of that year. He himself died in November. There were only two movements and the second, a Scherzo, did indeed have a bubbly, frothy, fizzy quality the quartet said were hallmarks of his Scherzos. Overall it was a darker, more somber, befitting his grief.
After an “Interval”, the quartet returned to play String Quartet in D Major Op 44 No 1 (1838). This quartet was written third but titled number ‘1′ because it was the composer’s favorite quartet and was written around the time of his marriage. It was also written right in the middle of the years he composed, so we got to listen to a bibliographic arc of Mendelssohn’s quartet composing styles. I personally liked this last quartet less than the other two, showing how plebian, philistinish and generally uneducated I am when it comes to classical music.
The Players
The violins and violist stood; the cello was on a raised two-level stool so that the cellist’s head was at the same height as the other players. The ladies wore long skirts of purple (violinist) and red (violist) folded silk taffeta yardage wrapped and draped with a round jeweled pin and dark gauzy slip just barely and intermittently visible below. They wore black velvet tops. The men were in black trousers with black Nehru-type, high collar tops with different shiny, black designs on each. Perhaps the designs were done in black taffeta.
There was a lot of movement by the players during the performance, especially by the first violinist. It was actually a subject of repeated discussion at Isabelle’s class throughout the week, as she tends to twist her upper torso while she plays. That night she said she would not have been surprised if Ms. Pohl had jumped from the stage.
Final quote at the end of the concert: ” I can’t wait for the night to come because then the morning comes and I get to come back! And see my friends. And play.” (with bowing motions)
