These cuts shorten the performance slightly and probably won’t be noticed as easily by casual listeners, but they’re not materially different experiences. It was the performance itself. The phrase passed easily. Rhythm and voice seamlessly he doubles. As David Allen recently observed in The New York Times, at all times there was the impression that each note was considered. was selflessly offered to
Thorvaldsdottir’s “Rituals” was not written as a direct reaction to Schubert, but in the context of Thursday’s program felt like a distant cousin. Her work is less concerned with repeating entire passages, but, like her Viennese predecessor, obsessed with gestures, reshaping them, foregrounding and obscuring them, and exploring counterpoint and compatibility with them. overlap.
Daily life, rituals, religion, etc. Read the titles. They are all implied in his nine sections of the song. Effectively eleven by his two “Ascension” interludes with the rich harmonies of the chorale and the gentle lyricism of the hymn. The segments flow seamlessly into each other, with the exception of a few written rests, organically unfolding, each small motif being introduced and repeated in new forms.
At first, the bow will fly, and the glissando will slide over the base of the drone. These textures — like the percussive col he reño and the open fifth that transforms steady ground into weightless suspension — glide between instruments, and the vocabulary is permuted and permuted, always giving fresh thoughts. express. Thorvaldsdottir, with his characteristically abstract yet suggestive mode, allows such ideas to be extended to infinity. At 21 minutes, however, her score speaks with poetic brevity and ends before it overstates its point.
On poetry: The Danish concluded the recital with Schubert’s transcription of ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’, in which the first violin played the role of soprano. But they also introduced his fifth musical instrument, the music box. As Orlando turned the handle, the machine spun out a roll of paper perforated with swirling piano wire.
Danish string quartet
Performs at Zankel Hall in Manhattan on Thursday.
