Aizuri Demonstration: Debussy's Scherzo Movement

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En provenance du cours de Curtis Institute of Music

The World of the String Quartet

294 notes

Curtis Institute of Music

The World of the String Quartet

294 notes

Arnold Steinhardt, first violin of the internationally acclaimed Guarneri String Quartet, invites music listeners to the world of the string quartet repertoire and ensemble. Journey with him and interpretive analysis instructor Mia Chung through the history and features of quartet music, colored by stories of legendary quartets and insights from the stage. This season's Curtis courses are sponsored by Linda Richardson in loving memory of her husband, Dr. Paul Richardson.

À partir de la leçon

The Internationalists, Part 2: Debussy, Ravel, Barber, Shostakovich, and Britten

Our international tour continues with France (Debussy and Ravel) and the United States (Barber, Op. 11), a return to the former Soviet Union (Shostakovich, Op. 110), and then to England (Britten, Op. 94), as we follow string quartet stories and techniques from the 1800s into the 1900s. The discoveries of this recent past are preserved by the professional string quartets who worked with these brilliant composers. What do we learn from them—and, from our very own era, the career reflections of the Guarneri Quartet members?

Debussy's "Impressionism"7:05

Aizuri Demonstration: Debussy's Scherzo Movement5:57

Comparing Debussy and Ravel12:51

A Masterpiece From Ravel9:53

Aizuri Demonstration: Ravel's Scherzo Movement6:29

Nuts and Bolts: Scherzo Movements--Debussy and Ravel8:53

Rencontrer les enseignants

Arnold Steinhardt
Performance Faculty
Dr. Mia Chung
Instructor of Interpretive Analysis
Musical Studies

Greetings. I'm Arnold Steinhardt, and I am here with the Aizuri String Quartet.

We are once again going to visit the glorious string quartet repertoire,

and in particular, two gems, written by French composers Claude Debussy

and Maurice Ravel. When I was a young student, I had

the privilege of studying these quartets with Josef Gingold, the wonderful violinist

and teacher. And he himself had studied in Paris, France,

with the great Franco-Belgian violinist, Eugene Ysaye. Debussy actually

dedicated the quartet to Eugene Ysaye, and Eugene Ysaye was this enormous presence

in French music. Gingold came home in love with French music, but specifically

in love with these quartets. And he tried to infuse the character of this music

into us. In particular, the sort of gauzy Impressionistic style of some of the music,

but in contrast to that, something quite exotic and almost foreign-sounding in the--

in the strange effects, the pizzicato effects and other effects that were really

foreign to much of Western music. And I wonder what your take is

in the Aizuri Quartet, about some of these elements.

For example, in the Debussy String Quartet.

Well, we find these works incredibly imaginative,

and full of so many different types of music, types of colors, and types of sounds.

It's easy to tell that Debussy had some inspiration from Spanish music,

and maybe flamenco guitar playing. There's definitely a lot of Spanish flair

in this piece. But he also was inspired by Javanese gamelan.

And there are some harmonic passages that sound -- have the mellow sounds and

counterpoint of that type of music. That's so interesting. One other thing

that I find very interesting is his use of so-called cyclic form.

And he's taken a germ of an idea in the first movement, and he's used it

in every other movement of the quartet. But so disguised, that unless you're

really paying attention, you have no idea about it,

because the character of each movement is so different. The character of the

same group of notes. And I know you're going to play the beginning of the

second movement. But just as a contrast, I wonder whether you'd

first start with those notes, that germ idea, in the first movement. And--

and then we can compare that afterwards, with the same notes in the second movement.

Please.

[MUSIC]

Thank you. And now, can you show us how these notes are the same but

completely different when you play them in the second movement, the very beginning

of the second movement? And you will hear that when Ayane plays these

notes in the viola part.

[MUSIC]

Thank you so much. They were absolutely the same notes,

but absolutely different. And now, if you would, start from the beginning

of the second movement, and play a good healthy piece of the

second movement for us please.

[MUSIC]

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