Borromeo Quartet: Beethoven Cycle, 2021-2022 | Concert 6
The Borromeo Quartet, NEC's Faculty Quartet-in-Residence since 1992, started a Beethoven Cycle at NEC in 2020 that was cut short by the pandemic. That Cycle will now continue with a new approach. In 2021–2022 there will be six concerts in Burnes Hall, and in each of these concerts the Borromeo will present two Beethoven quartets. Each concert will begin with exactly 10 minutes of exploration of Beethoven's manuscripts of the works on the program, with a special emphasis on his vivid communication of details of expression. This short live discussion will reference a second layer of more in-depth discussion that will be produced simultaneously on the internet.
This performance is open to in-person audiences, and can also be viewed below via livestream.
Watch livestream from Burnes Hall
- Borromeo String Quartet
- Nicholas Kitchen, violin
- Kristopher Tong, violin
- Mai Motobuchi, viola
- Yeesun Kim, cello
Ten Minute Discussion: Irony and Humor - Things Are Not What They Seem
Theodore Wiprud | Mysteria for String Quartet and percussion (world premiere)
This commission has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Program note
My quintet for percussion and string quartet is all about permeable boundaries – between percussion and strings, between ethereal and earthy, between sacred and profane. Mysteria extends a series that combines string quartet with p’iri (Mudang) and with gayageum (Nonghyun), stretching string players into new worlds as much as they stretch traditional Korean players into the Western classical tradition. From the start I wanted to marry strings with unpitched percussion – indeed, to evoke quasi-unpitched sounds from the strings, alongside sustained pitches from percussion, crossing boundaries.
In thinking about this, I remembered and was further inspired by a powerful description of traditional mystical rituals in rural Poland, in Michal Rozek’s introduction to Misteria, a book of photography by Adam Buzak. “Mysteries appeal to us,” Rozek writes, “for the authenticity of the great theatrum sacrum intermingled with the theatrum profanum. The vague border between a sacred mystery, during which the divinity’s epiphany takes place, and a festive response by the faithful participating in the mystery is often crossed. This peculiar combination of faith, mysticism and liturgy is continued because religious cults are an important factor joining human communities during their group experience of a festivity, when saints are worshipped, anger is soothed, and peace is made. The folk character of mysteries accounts for the survival of the ancient rites and myths connected with them.”
Mysteria was commissioned by the Borromeo String Quartet with support from the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program. Percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum provided essential guidance and imagination. I am also indebted to John Pennington, who as principal percussionist of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, first got me thinking about percussion with string quart – Theodore WiprudIan David Rosenbaum
Praised for his “spectacular performances” (Wall Street Journal), and his “unfailing virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), GRAMMY®-nominated percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum has developed a musical breadth far beyond his years.
As a passionate advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Rosenbaum has premiered over one hundred new chamber and solo works. He has collaborated with and championed the music of established and emerging composers alike.
Mr. Rosenbaum was nominated for three GRAMMY® awards in 2021 for his
performances on albums of music by Andy Akiho and Christopher Cerrone, including two nominations for Seven Pillars, an album by Sandbox Percussion released on Aki Rhythm Productions, a record label that Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Akiho founded in 2021.
In 2012 Mr. Rosenbaum joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) as only the second percussionist they have selected in their history, and he has performed regularly with CMS since then.
Highlights of the 2021-2022 season include the world premiere of Seven Pillars by Andy Akiho with Sandbox Percussion, performances with pianist Michael Brown and cellist Nick Cannellakis, and a performance of George Crumb’s seminal work Ancient Voices of Children with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Mr. Rosenbaum is a founding member of Sandbox Percussion, the Percussion Collective, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has recorded for the Bridge, Innova, Naxos, and Starkland labels and is on faculty at the Mannes School of Music and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mr. Rosenbaum endorses Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth mallets, and Remo drumheads.
iandavidrosenbaum.comArtists- Ian David Rosenbaum, percussion
Ludwig van Beethoven | String Quartet in F Minor, op. 95 "Serioso"
Allegro con brio
Allegretto ma non troppo
Allegro assai vivace ma serioso - Trio
Larghetto espressivo - Allegretto agitatoLudwig van Beethoven | String Quartet in F Major, op. 135
Allegretto
Vivace
Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo
"Must it be? - It must be!"
Grave, ma non troppo tratto - Allegro