Hardly perturbed by the “Freakfest” raging outside, the Pro Arte Quartet gave a fascinating concert in Mills Hall on Oct. 27.
The program was comparatively brief, but nevertheless full of interesting novelties.First, we heard the String Quartet in C (D.46) of Franz Schubert, No. 4 of his 15 numbered quartets We do not often encounter the early quartets by the short-lived master who later produced such masterpieces in the idiom. This one was composed before he was 16 years old. It is a work that shows he was still learning his craft. The score is heavily grounded in the quartet writing of Haydn, but hints at Schubert coming to terms with the challenging output of Beethoven. The players took it quite seriously, digging into it with energy, skill and richness of sound.
Second came a set of Three Rags for String Quartet, by William Bolcom, a contemporary composer long an experimenter in diverse idioms, including jazz and related styles. In this case, it was one master paying honest homage to another — the great pianist and composer Scott Joplin and his form of the piano rag. No cheap ragtime here, but a very clever assimilation of the Joplin style and form, in pieces titled Poltergeist, Graceful Ghost and Incineratorag, produced between 1967 and 1971. Perhaps the set was chosen as a discrete tribute to Halloween and Freakfest, but they were interesting entertainment, played with rollicking precision.
The final work was Felix Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2. Mendelssohn’s quartets are not as bold as some produced by others in the 19th century, nor are they strikingly profound. But they are works of beautiful craftsmanship and they make for very satisfying listening. This one is a creative fusion of familiar Mendelssohnian features. For one thing, there is the steady melodious invention, nicely built into the first movement’s sonata-form, and spun out in the third movement’s long-limbed lyricism. There is that elfin style to which Mendelssohn so often resorted (think A Midsummer Night’s Dream). And, for the finale, that mix of lyricism with the intensity of fugal counterpoint.
The earnest and full-blooded qualities of the Pro Arte performance displayed the players’ devotion to this understated but wonderful music.
