Speaking of watching a quartet live: I was in Hobart, Tasmania recently at the wonderful MONA gallery. There is an “exhibit” called 4PM, where every day a composer writes something new, and at 4PM a string quartet arrive to play it - unseen until that moment. Was a fantastic insight into the intimate connection between the musicians, rehearsing on the spot how to put a piece of music together. All done in front of the audience - the process laid bare. (https://mona.net.au/stuff-to-do/dean-stevenson).
Michael Cirigliano II’s recent post - Felix Mendelssohn / String Quartet No. 2 reads as a letter to a good friend.
As with all his writings Michael gets to the essence of his chosen piece of music and the genre in which it sits.
Mendelssohn’s quartet is a delight. Quartets can be heard as songs and when one considers that two violins, a viola and a cello are singing and listening to one another.
The violinist Jonathan Evan’s Jones, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for his introducing me to so many varied composers who have, like Mendelssohn, used the Quartet to express so many feelings and ideas.
Well done Michael and well done Jonathan for your great gifts of music and enlightenment.
Thank you for such kind words, Tim — and for sharing that movement from one of Fanny's quartets. She'll be making an appearance in a follow-up post next month! So thankful for your time and interest in my work. 💙
I’m a sucker for unrequited love stories and this one did not disappoint… I’m sorry Felix! And you were so right about watching the performance. It’s as if I hear tenfold the emotion in every swing and sway! Meanwhile, even though Mendelssohn grew up amongst music, I’m still just flabbergasted he was only 16 when he composed Midsummer!!!
Right?! How does a 16-year-old do it? The funny thing is that he wrote the rest of the incidental music to Midsummer Night's Dream (including the famous Wedding March) decades later, but I can't tell any difference in maturity or quality between the scores.
And I'm so glad you enjoyed experiencing every "swing and sway" of the Tetzlaff Quartet in action! 💙
I know nothing about music but I rely on voices like yours. I just finished a play that is partly about Delius and I had to read theses and dissertations to cobble together some semblance of remote authority on the subject of composition. Good music writing like yours (“obsessive strings”) really makes a difference.
Thank you, Michael — your comment means so much to me. 🙏🏼 Glad you found your way to Shades of Blue! I'm so curious: What is the Delius-related play you mentioned?
Oh I’m a writer, mostly of fiction. I’m from north Florida where Delius briefly had a plantation. He met a church organist in my hometown and definitively gave up business. His father was a wool merchant back in Yorkshire and agreed to send him to Leipzig conservatory. There he met Grieg and began his career. I got a late start as a writer. And it came bc I met someone much older in Europe whom I apmired. My play is about us and it’s about Eric Fenby’s six years with Delius in France. They’re parallel stories about mentorship and originally I thought I’d make it a novel strictly about Delius. I was intrigued by his memories now that he was blind and paralyzed. But I didn’t see the parallels originally. Fenby was 22 when he left Yorkshire to help Delius complete his life’s work. Largely the play is about aging and the question of whether or not creating or enjoying art saves us or if it isn’t even meant to save us.
This sounds like a fascinating premise for a play, Michael. I don’t know much of Delius’s music, but I do love the Florida Suite, especially the stunning dawn that opens the work. Best of luck with the project!
My husband is what he calls a Midwestern public library intellectual. Delius wasn’t famous then even, but he used to listen to the Mass of Life, with text in the original German from Nietzsche’s Also Sprach Zarathustra
Yes, loved Levit's album! The SWW offer a fascinating set of worlds to explore. I've really been enjoying Andreas Ottensamer's arrangements of them for clarinet/piano and clarinet/string quintet. This is a favorite:
Speaking of watching a quartet live: I was in Hobart, Tasmania recently at the wonderful MONA gallery. There is an “exhibit” called 4PM, where every day a composer writes something new, and at 4PM a string quartet arrive to play it - unseen until that moment. Was a fantastic insight into the intimate connection between the musicians, rehearsing on the spot how to put a piece of music together. All done in front of the audience - the process laid bare. (https://mona.net.au/stuff-to-do/dean-stevenson).
I love the idea behind this — what a thrill (and a nail-biter) this must be for both composer and quartet. Thanks for sharing, Duncan!
Michael Cirigliano II’s recent post - Felix Mendelssohn / String Quartet No. 2 reads as a letter to a good friend.
As with all his writings Michael gets to the essence of his chosen piece of music and the genre in which it sits.
Mendelssohn’s quartet is a delight. Quartets can be heard as songs and when one considers that two violins, a viola and a cello are singing and listening to one another.
The violinist Jonathan Evan’s Jones, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for his introducing me to so many varied composers who have, like Mendelssohn, used the Quartet to express so many feelings and ideas.
Well done Michael and well done Jonathan for your great gifts of music and enlightenment.
PS here is a link to Fanny Mendelssohn’s quartet - full of verve and feeling. https://open.spotify.com/track/5LGFOZ9V32vsdYVri8HWCO?si=5caa2dcb61194208
Thank you for such kind words, Tim — and for sharing that movement from one of Fanny's quartets. She'll be making an appearance in a follow-up post next month! So thankful for your time and interest in my work. 💙
Keep em coming! Love the comment from, I presume, you dear Father! T
I’m a sucker for unrequited love stories and this one did not disappoint… I’m sorry Felix! And you were so right about watching the performance. It’s as if I hear tenfold the emotion in every swing and sway! Meanwhile, even though Mendelssohn grew up amongst music, I’m still just flabbergasted he was only 16 when he composed Midsummer!!!
Right?! How does a 16-year-old do it? The funny thing is that he wrote the rest of the incidental music to Midsummer Night's Dream (including the famous Wedding March) decades later, but I can't tell any difference in maturity or quality between the scores.
And I'm so glad you enjoyed experiencing every "swing and sway" of the Tetzlaff Quartet in action! 💙
See I didn’t know that either, and no, I can’t tell the difference! Innate talent just fascinates me!
I always look forward to opening these. I really enjoyed today’s piece by Mendelssohn and the story behind it!
Thanks, Nina! It means so much that you enjoy your time here. 💙
I know nothing about music but I rely on voices like yours. I just finished a play that is partly about Delius and I had to read theses and dissertations to cobble together some semblance of remote authority on the subject of composition. Good music writing like yours (“obsessive strings”) really makes a difference.
Thank you, Michael — your comment means so much to me. 🙏🏼 Glad you found your way to Shades of Blue! I'm so curious: What is the Delius-related play you mentioned?
Oh I’m a writer, mostly of fiction. I’m from north Florida where Delius briefly had a plantation. He met a church organist in my hometown and definitively gave up business. His father was a wool merchant back in Yorkshire and agreed to send him to Leipzig conservatory. There he met Grieg and began his career. I got a late start as a writer. And it came bc I met someone much older in Europe whom I apmired. My play is about us and it’s about Eric Fenby’s six years with Delius in France. They’re parallel stories about mentorship and originally I thought I’d make it a novel strictly about Delius. I was intrigued by his memories now that he was blind and paralyzed. But I didn’t see the parallels originally. Fenby was 22 when he left Yorkshire to help Delius complete his life’s work. Largely the play is about aging and the question of whether or not creating or enjoying art saves us or if it isn’t even meant to save us.
This sounds like a fascinating premise for a play, Michael. I don’t know much of Delius’s music, but I do love the Florida Suite, especially the stunning dawn that opens the work. Best of luck with the project!
My husband is what he calls a Midwestern public library intellectual. Delius wasn’t famous then even, but he used to listen to the Mass of Life, with text in the original German from Nietzsche’s Also Sprach Zarathustra
Can’t go wrong with Peter Schreier!
I have to dig deeper in to FM — I really enjoyed Igor Levit’s Songs without Words album from last year.
Yes, loved Levit's album! The SWW offer a fascinating set of worlds to explore. I've really been enjoying Andreas Ottensamer's arrangements of them for clarinet/piano and clarinet/string quintet. This is a favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swa8wv0qyQs
Perhaps 2025 is your "Year of Mendelssohn"? 😃
That's some good playing by Ottensamer and friends...
I love these SWW arrangements for guitar by Gerald Garcia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCAprrIHgK0&list=OLAK5uy_kXhqlaS2rZhgPSSlYDeGEAFZnoq6FVmIY&index=2