String ensemble class tackles Beethoven, Haydn and Dvorak
The students of Utah State University’s string ensemble class had a mighty big chamber this semester for their final chamber music recital Wednesday.
And they needed it since their free concert was “sold out.” The room behind the Tippets Art Gallery was packed and helpers from the music department had to set up chairs in the actual gallery for about 70 people.
And certainly nobody regretted attending as the students provided their audience with performances of various pieces from the Romantic and Classical periods.
“Some of those are the hardest pieces in the repertoire,” said Russell Fallstad, one of four instructors of the class and co-founder of the Fry Street Quartet.
“The romantic stuff tends to be more virtuosic, technically,” he said. “The classical stuff is interesting because it is deceptively difficult. It’s not a lot of notes but it’s more transparent. And so every note kind of sticks out if it’s not just perfect.”
The recital started out romantically, with the first and third movement of Max Bruch’s “8 Pieces” performed by Trio to the Max. The trio is comprised of Jason Daane on clarinet, Sarah Anderson on violin and Stephanie Rhodes on piano.
“This is kind of an unusual combination: clarinet, piano and violin. These guys completely did that on their own, they actually weren’t even part of the class,” said Fallstad, adding. “Part of what we’re hoping for in this class is that they get interested enough in playing so that they start forming their own groups.”
The first half continued with two classical pieces – Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 4 in C minor and movements Three and Four of Joseph Haydn’s “The Lark.” They were performed by two all-female string quartets (two violins, one cello and one viola), The Q-Lady Quartet and the D.S. Quartet.
The all-female Wooden Box Quintet, with red rose blossoms in their hair, started the second half of the evening, performing a passionate interpretation of the third movement of Sir Edward Elgar’s Piano Quintet in A minor.
“This group has played together for longer than I’ve been here – for over two years,” Fallstad said. “You can see it in their playing. Not only do they play together, they move together.”
The next group, a string quartet called La Noblesse d’Aspiration (The nobility of aspiration), performed another piece by Haydn, the finale of the String Quartet in G Major.
The evening ended as it had begun, with a romantic piece. The Aggie Piano Quintet performed movements Three and Four of Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major.
“Dvorak was in America for a while and I feel like there’s almost a little bit of fiddle music in there,” Fallstad said.
Sarah Jolley, a sophomore majoring in string performance, said she loved the performance.
“I probably liked the Elgar and the Dvorak pieces best,” she said. “I’d love to play either of the pieces they played tonight.”
Suzie Ottens, a special education junior, joined in the praise.
“I’m not a musical major but I loved it,” she said. “I love beautiful classical music.”
Anyone who missed out on Wednesday or can’t get enough chamber music can still see some of these groups, as the D.S. Quartet, The Wooden Box Quintet and La Noblesse d’Aspiration perform again Saturday, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. for the Cavani String Quartet Master Class.
-mattpetry@cc.usu.edu