Concert Critique # 1 On February 9th, 2013, I attended a concert that was performed by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. This concert was organized by the Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Mayor’s Office and Recreation Department, and was performed in the Berkley High School Auditorium. The Charleston Symphony Orchestra would actually have 2 instrumental sets with a brief intermission between them. The 1st musical set was played by their String Quartet and they would be playing Mozart’s String Quartet #19. The 2nd musical set would be performed by the Woodwind Quintet, and they would be playing the Beethoven - Quintet, Op.71. Below you will find a critique primarily on the 1st set that was played by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra String Quartet.
In 1785, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a six string quartet which he dedicated to his friend and mentor Joseph Haydn. The one that was played tonight was arguably the most popular one and I was written and performed in C major. The piece was also called the "Dissonant Quartet". It was arguably Mozart's finest quartet writing, most beloved chamber music piece and the performance tonight did an excellent job at captivating every minute detail to the piece. This piece had a total of 4 movements. On 1st Violin was Alex Wathrow, on 2nd Violin was Asico Cramer, On the Viola was Christopher Manning, and on the Cello was Damion Cramer.
Adagio. Allegro
Just listen to the opening bars of this movement and you will see where this quartet gains its nickname from... the slow, dissonant Adagio may not seem very outlandish now in the 21st century, but in Mozart's day you can imagine how bizarre it must have sounded. In the 19th century there were even attempts to "fix" and "improve" some of the more objectionable parts. Some original patrons returned the music to the publisher, thinking that there were errors in the part.
However, the slow introduction is not a complete departure from convention. Even here, we hear the four-note theme that will be the basis for most of the material in this movement. After having set this dark, brooding tone in the introduction, Mozart then lightens things up in the Allegro with the entrance of a pure and innocent little melody in the violin. Incorporated into the melody, we hear again that same rising 4-note theme, except this time in a happier, major context.
This being a traditional first movement of a Classical string quartet, we are of course following the sonata form here. The exposition serves its purpose well enough, by first establishing our key of C major, then modulating over to G major... while all the while keeping those four rising notes somewhere close to our minds. With the development, things get rather stormy as we build tension on our way back to the home key of C major again. Even here, our four note theme keeps a major role. Finally, after we wrap things up in the recapitulation, the Allegro ends just as softly and innocently as it began.
II: Andante cantabile
This beautiful slow movement is once again in sonata form. The word "cantabile" in the title means "singing" - and that is exactly the character of this movement. Its beautiful lyricism is almost like an opera solo in nature. As a general rule, always take in and focus on the melody when listening to this movement, or any other movement labelled "cantabile".
This is not to say that the harmony should be ignored. In fact, the harmony here matches and perfectly complements the simple yet rich characteristic of the melody. Mozart uses the cello at several places in this movement to link together many parts of the violin's solos. A back-and-forth duet between the violin and cello is also used as transition material to move from the tonic to the dominant, but herein lies Mozart's genius: he also uses this same back-and-forth theme as the retransition material, moving from dominant back to tonic. (If you aren't familiar with some of these terms, you can get a quick crash-course on harmony in Lesson 6 of our Music Theory section.)
The recapitulation goes over the established material, but this time embellishes it through decorative notes and rhythms. We are treated again to the beautiful melodies and ringing harmonies. Finally, the music makes its way towards the end, as its momentum slowly winds down into the final note.
III: Menuetto. Allegretto
This movement is in the popluar dance form of Minuet-Trio. The violin introduces the bobbing, chromatic theme of the Minuet right from the start... this evokes a spirited response from the rest of the quartet. Throughout the rest of the minuet, Mozart takes that saem chromatic theme through its paces... he transforms it, distributes it, and voices it in just about every feasible way... a device he likes to use is to pass it from one instrument to the other - listen for it!
After rounding off the Minuet, the music travels into a more dancey Trio section, with a bit of an edge. The syncopated rhythms in the cello and the irregular volume spikes all combine to give this section a bit of an unbalanced feel.
Thank goodness we finally get back to the Minuet! As is conventional with these dance forms, Mozart returns to the original Minuet section. With the repeats taken out this time around, plus the fact that we're a bit more used to the material, the path to the finish goes quickly and smoothly from there.
IV: Allegro molto
If I had to summarize this movement in one word, it would probably be "upbeat". From the first phrase you hear, you feel like the music is bringing you forward with it. Everything about this movement keeps you going: the energetic melodies, the springy tempo, the strong harmonic pulls, the driving imitations... you get the idea.
This last movement is in (surprise!) pretty little singing passage that seems to pop out of nowhere... which then quickly disappears, allowing the music to go on as if nothing had ever happened. Other than that, the movement follows the basic everyday sonata form... the coda in particular is quite-well done, as each of the instruments join together in unison on moment, then spread out their own ways, only to come together again, etc... until finally they all join together on the final, exuberant chord.