danish string quartet€¦ · bach’s c-sharp minor fugue from the first book of j.s. bach’s...

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The three pieces offered on this program showus three composers interlinked across threecenturies—Bach, Beethoven as influenced byBach, and Bartók as influenced by Beethoven-as-influenced-by-Bach. The major connective tissuebetween the works on this program is fugue, acompositional technique in which a shortmotivic idea (or “subject”) is presented inone “voice” and then passed around successivelyto other voices while interwoven withcountermelodies.

A descendant of Renaissance polyphonic styleslike the somber, long-note ricerare and thelivelier canzona, fugal writing became a mainstayof 18th-century music, both as a standalonegenre (a self-contained piece entitled “fugue”)and as a device within larger works (e.g. incantatas or instrumental suites). To composeadeptly in a fugal idiom was (is!) quitechallenging, requiring a thorough understandingof harmony and counterpoint as well as anability to design motivic materials and develop

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019, 8PMSegerstrom Center for the Arts | Samueli Theater

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DANISH STRING QUARTETFrederik Øland, violin

Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violinAsbjørn Nørgaard, viola

Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello

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Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp minor J.S. BACH (arr. Foster)fromWell-Tempered Clavier, (1685–1750)Book I, BWV 849

String Quartet No. 1 Béla BARTÓKin A minor, Op. 7 (1881–1945)

LentoAllegrettoAllegro vivace

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String Quartet No. 14 Ludwig van BEETHOVENin C-sharp minor, Op. 131 (1770–1827)

Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivoAllegro molto vivaceAllegro moderatoAndante ma non troppo e molto cantabilePrestoAdagio quasi un poco andanteAllegro

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them compellingly. Perhaps because of thisbaseline level of difficulty, fugal writing came tosignify compositional ambitiousness. The senseof prestige or seriousness surrounding thetechnique was only amplified in the 19th and20th centuries, when consciously positioningoneself in a historical lineage became a coreaesthetic value.

But fugue has always been much more thanan academic exercise or a proving ground forcompositional chops—there is endless dramaticand rhetorical potential in the articulation ofa single voice, the subsequent proliferationof counter-voices, and the intertwining(or entanglement!) of these multiple strands.Some fugal writing achieves an almostunbearable tension, a sense of mountingurgency that calls to mind the originaletymology of fuga (from “to chase/to flee”—see“fugitive,” “fugue state”). Other fugues instantlyinvoke the archaic and the sacred.Still other examples unfold with a sternlogical inevitability, enacting the rigorous“working-out” of a musical thesis. There arejoyous fugues, dancing fugues, fugues signifyingplenitude and fulfillment through theharmonious convening of voices.

Among these infinite fugal subtypes there is alsothe so-called fuga patetitca, which does not mean“pathetic” in our modern derogatory sense butrather pathos-imbued. The three stunningworks on this program all reside in this pateticaregister, conveying pain and expressiveimmediacy through intense chromaticism andlanguorous tempos.

BACH’S C-SHARP MINOR FUGUEfrom the first book of J.S. BACH’S WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER is one of themost complex and contrapuntally denseof the set, constructed with five voices andtwo countersubjects. The Well-Tempered

Clavier, which Bach published in two volumes(1722, 1739-1742, respectively), comprises of48 preludes and fugues for keyboard(i.e. harpsichord), in all the major and minorkeys. The meters, moods, and compositionaltactics on display across the WTC are asdiverse as the key signatures, almost as thoughBach wanted to leave a comprehensive lexiconof all extant compositional styles.

The dolorous C-sharp minor fugue falls firmlyin the patetica category, and shares significantDNA with Bach’s depictions of theCrucifixion in the Passions and in the B minorMass. The fugue’s principal four-note subjectfeatures two descending half-steps, classicsighing gestures separated by the jarringinterval of a diminished fourth. The structureof this chromatic motive is very close toBach’s musical “signature” B-A-C-H (inmodern notation, the pitches B flat-A- C- Bnatural), which he used in a number ofother compositions. After establishing hissubject and developing it, Bach introduces arunning countersubject that adds momentumto the somber proceedings; the emergence ofa second countersubject, declamatory andinsistent, further thickens the plot.

It can be a tall order for a listener to separate outevery contrapuntal line in this thorny fuguewhen it is performed on harpsichord or piano,with one player handling all five voices.The string quartet arrangement lends a degreeof perceptual clarity by distributing thevoices among the four players, and also addsa welcome timbral richness.

While Beethoven studied counterpointthroughout his life and incorporated it liberallyinto various compositions at various points,in his final years the fugal principlebecame absolutely central to his work.The piano sonatas Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”)

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movement in A major follows; Beethoven usesthe template of variations to explore many styles(including our old friend, the fugue!) andeventually brings about an ecstatic momentof arrival via a cadenza in the first violin.The subsequent Presto movement (E major)is almost like a bagatelle, zippy and mercurialand interpolated with pastoral moments.

Beethoven dashes these high spirits with adesolate lamentation in G-sharp minor, whichushers in the terse and tempestuous finalmovement (back in C-sharp minor at long last).Both themes in this finale are derived fromthe first movement’s fugue subject, grantinga cyclical cohesiveness to the entire quartet,but here the fugue’s mournful pathos has beentransmuted into relentless, compacted fury.

From our historical vantage point, we oftencharacterize Béla Bartók as a Hungarianoriginal, a seminal ethnomusicologist whosegreatest legacy was the fusion of folk idiomswith art-music forms. But young Bartókstudied the works of Bach obsessively, andat conservatory he worshipped at the fountof Brahms and Richard Strauss. Many of hisstudent compositions—including a symphonicpoem about a national hero!—followed heavilyin the Germanic tradition.

Post-school, Bartók’s incipient friendship withZoltán Kodály (a proponent of Hungarianfolk music), as well as his introduction tothe coloristic sound-world of Debussy, helpto steer his compositional voice in a newdirection. BARTÓK’S STRING QUARTETNO. 1 IN A MINOR (1908) crystallizesBartók at a moment of aesthetic transition,having absorbed and assimilated his Germanicinfluences but also beginning to seriously engagewith polytonality and Eastern European folkmodalities.

and Op. 110 both culminate in fugue-finales;the Missa Solemnis contains three massivefugal movements; the Ninth Symphony offersthe bucolic, folksy Ode to Joy theme but“fugues” it up before long. And Beethovensaved his strangest, spikiest, and most ambitiousfugue for the string quartet genre: the“Grosse Fuge” (“Great Fugue”), 1825, servedas the original finale to the Op. 130 quartet(but after contemporary critics panned it asincomprehensible, Beethoven, in a rare instanceof acquiescence, supplied a lighter movementas a substitution).

BEETHOVEN’S STRING QUARTET INC-SHARP MINOR, OP. 131 was oneof Beethoven’s last compositions, completedin 1826, and it built on the wildexperimentation of the Great Fugue whileinhabiting a completely different emotionalworld. Op. 131 begins with a fugue, theonly work of Beethoven’s to do so. Plaintiveand searching, the fugue’s motto begins witha four-note figure that closely resembles Bach’sC-sharp minor subject in intervallic content,key signature, and affect. Beethoven developshis fugal material strictly, but the inherentchromaticism of the subject brings aboutdaring, unconventional harmonies that lookahead to Brahms, Wagner, Schoenberg.

Late-18th and early-19th century stringquartets typically had four self-containedmovements in closely-related keys, but inOp. 131 Beethoven breaks this mold entirely,fashioning seven distinct sections that flowwithout pause. The patetica mode of theopening fugue gives way to a gracious,Haydnesque movement in the unrelated keyof D major, the sunniness of which is disruptedby an operatic intermezzo in B minor.A refined, spacious theme-and-variations

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In wake of this romantic rejection, Bartók calledhis quartet movement a “funeral dirge.”The next two movements succeed inresuscitating our protagonist, though. TheAllegretto starts haltingly, enigmatically,but slowly attains vigor. The ensuingIntroduzione features an emphatic cellorecitative that leads to a swift and changeablefinale containing the most markedly“Hungarian”-inflected music of the quartet.Following a section that showcases the fourinstruments playing in stark unison, Bartók“fugues” his principle theme—but the fleet andjocular tone is a world away from the pathos ofthe other fugal offerings on this program.After a final cri-de-coeur, Bartók concludes themovement in a dazzling upward blaze.

—Program notes by Alana Murphy

The quartet’s first movement has often beenlikened to the opening fugue of Beethoven’sOp. 131 due to its contrapuntal texture, lentotempo, and almost-expressionist portrayal ofpsychic pain. Though Bartók himself neverspecified this specific influence, he was a greatadmirer of Beethoven’s quartets and doubtlessknew that his own initial essay in the genrewould invite comparisons. While Bartók’s slowmovement is not a fugue in the strict sense,imitative polyphony is still its guiding principle.

The emotional intensity of the openingmovement hearkens back to the pateticacompositions of Bach and Beethoven, but alsoreflects something of Bartók’s inner life. Hehad carried on a passionate but ultimatelyunrequited courtship with violinist Stefi Geyer(his first violin concerto was dedicated to her).

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dANiSh STRiNg quARTeT

Among today’s many exceptional chambermusic groups, the GRAMMY®-nominatedDanish String Quartet continuously assertsits preeminence. The quartet’s playing reflectsimpeccable musicianship, sophisticated artistry,exquisite clarity of ensemble, and, above all, anexpressivity inextricably bound to the music,from Haydn to Shostakovich to contemporaryscores. Performances bring a rare musical spon-taneity, giving audiences the sense of hearingeven treasured canon repertoire as if for the firsttime, and exuding a palpable joy in music-mak-ing that have made them enormously in-demand on concert stages throughout theworld. The recipient of many awards and pres-tigious appointments, including the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, the Danish String Quartet wasnamed in 2013 as BBC Radio 3 NewGeneration Artists and appointed to the TheBowers Program (formerly CMS Two).

As part of a three-year residency, the DanishString Quartet brings a series of five concerts,which mirror the programs in its ongoingrecording project with ECM New Series,PRISM, to La Jolla Music Society in November2019. Each PRISM program is an explorationof the symbiotic musical and contextual rela-tionships between Bach fugues, Beethovenstring quartets, and works by Shostakovich,Schnittke, Bartok, Mendelssohn, and Webern,forming an expertly curated musical evolutionwithin each individual program and across theentire PRISM repertory. Prism I, the first discof this five-album project for the ECM label,was released in September 2018 and garnered aGRAMMY® nomination in the category of BestChamber Music/Small Ensemble Performancefor the group’s recordings of Beethoven’sOp. 127 in E-flat major, Bach’s Fugue inE-flat major (arranged by Mozart), and

Shostakovich’s final string quartet, No. 15 inE-flat minor.

The Danish String Quartet returns to NorthAmerica in the 2019-20 season as one of themost prominent musical voices in the monu-mental celebrations of Beethoven’s 250th year.With three sweeping North American tours,the Danish engages its expansive audience inprogramming centered around the toweringBeethoven string quartets, as well as manyimportant works which inspired, and wereinspired by, these revered giants of the classicalcanon. The quartet appears in Minneapolis,Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Rohnert Park,Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Montreal,Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Boston, and IowaCity. The Danish returns to Chamber MusicSociety of Lincoln Center as the featured stringquartet performing the entire Beethoven cycleover the course of six concerts in February 2020.InMay, the quartet returns to the United Statesto perform the cycle in St. Paul, MN, as the2019-20 Featured Ensemble at the SchubertClub. European engagements include London’sWigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw,multiple dates in Denmark, as well as tours ofGermany, Brussels, the Netherlands, Italy, andSpain.

The group takes an active role in reachingnew audiences through special projects.In 2007, they established the DSQ Festival,now in its 12th year, which takes place in anintimate and informal setting at Copenhagen’sBygningskulturens Hus. The 2019 DSQFestival features an array of meticulouslycurated programs including such guests aspianists Vikingur Olafsson and Wu Qian,violinist Alexi Kenney, and violist JenniferStumm. In 2016, they inaugurated a new musicfestival, Series of Four, in which they bothperform and invite colleagues—the Ebène


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Quartet, mandolin player Chris Thile, amongothers—to appear at the venerable DanishRadio Concert Hall. Concerts this seasoninclude collaborations with pianist GabrielKahane and violinist Pekka Kuusisto.

Since its debut in 2002, the Danish StringQuartet has demonstrated a special affinity forScandinavian composers, from Carl Nielsen toHans Abrahamsen, alongside music of Mozartand Beethoven. The quartet’s musical interestsalso encompass Nordic folk music, the focusof Wood Works, an album of traditionalScandinavian folk music, released by Dacapo in2014. As a follow-up, the Danish StringQuartet released Last Leaf for ECM, an albumof traditional Scandinavian folk music. Thisrecording was one of the top classical albumsof 2017, as chosen by NPR, Spotify andThe New York Times, among others.

Named Artist-in-Residence in 2006 by theDanish Radio, the quartet was offeredthe opportunity to record the Nielsen stringquartets at the Danish Radio Concert Hall.The two CDs, released in 2007 and 2008 onthe Dacapo label, garnered enthusiastic praisefor their first recordings—“these Danish playershave excelled in performances of works byBrahms, Mozart and Bartók in recent years.But they play Nielsen’s quartets as if theyowned them,” noted the New York Times.In 2012, the Danish String Quartet released arecording of Haydn and Brahms quartets on theGerman AVI-music label, for which theyalso received critical notice. “What makes theperformance special is the maturity and calm ofthe playing, even during virtuosic passages thatwhisk by. This is music-making of wonderfulease and naturalness,” observed the New YorkTimes. Subsequently, they recorded works byBrahms and Robert Fuchs with clarinetistSebastian Manz, released by AVI-music in

2014 and in 2017, an album with music ofThomas Adès, Per Nørgård, and Abrahamsen,the quartet’s debut album on ECM.

The Danish String Quartet has receivednumerous citations and prizes, including FirstPrize in the Vagn Homboe String QuartetCompetition and the Charles HennenInternational Chamber Music Competition inthe Netherlands, as well as the Audience Prizeat the Trondheim International String QuartetCompetition in 2005. In 2009, the DanishString Quartet won First Prize in the 11thLondon International String QuartetCompetition, now known as theWigmore HallInternational String Quartet competition, andreturn to the celebrated London concert hallfrequently. The quartet was the awardedthe 2010 NORDMETALL-Ensemble Prize atthe Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival inGermany, and in 2011, they received the CarlNielsen Prize, the highest cultural honor inDenmark.

Violinists Frederik Øland and Rune TonsgaardSørenson and violist Asbjørn Nørgaard metas children at a music summer camp wherethey played soccer and made music together.As teenagers, they began the study of classicalchamber music and were mentored byTim Frederiksen of Copenhagen’s RoyalDanish Academy of Music. In 2008, the threeDanes were joined by Norwegian cellistFredrik Schøyen Sjölin.

www.danishquartet.com.


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