Newsletter Spring 2004
Pacifica Quartet on Shortlist for
Royal Philharmonic Society Award
The Royal Philharmonic Society has announced that the Pacifica Quartet is one of three ensembles nominated for the annual Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in chamber music. The Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards are the United Kingdom's most prestigious recognition of achievement in the field of live classical music. The Awards are decided by independent panels drawn from music's most distinguished practitioners.
Tony Fell, Chairman of the Royal Philharmonic Society, commented that "the RPS Music Awards are judged against the guiding principles of the Society, which exists to reward excellence and promote creativity and understanding in classical music. All those short-listed for these awards, and many of those who did not make the closely contested final lists, embrace these elements in their work."
The Royal Philharmonic Society was founded in 1813 with the aim of encouraging the appreciation of music by promoting concerts, commissioning new works, and awarding honors for excellence.
The RPS Music Award winners for 2004 will be announced in May at a dinner attended by several hundred distinguished guests from the world of music. |
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Wigmore Hall Debut
The Pacifica Quartet has been invited to give its debut performance in London's famed Wigmore Hall on November 24. The program will include works by Mendelssohn, Carter, and Beethoven. For more information visit www.wigmore-hall.org.uk. |
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Mendelssohn Recording
Project
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This coming June we will finish recording the quartets of Felix Mendelssohn. We are drawn to these quartets because Mendelssohn is a great composer whose reputation is not equal to the absolutely wonderful and important music he produced. Many musicologists believe that Mendelssohn did not mature significantly as a composer. Another common criticism is that he clung to Classical traditions in an age of Romanticism and was too emotionally restrained. On all counts we strongly disagree. We believe that his string quartets are intensely passionate within their framework of craftsmanship and also that they show considerable development over the course of his life, both stylistically and emotionally. Our hope is to increase the appreciation of Mendelssohn's string quartets by presenting his complete cycle of eight quartets together, performed with the intensity they deserve.
The early quartets Op. 12 and Op. 13 were written when Mendelssohn was very young and quite the prodigy. They are youthfully passionate with the energy and shimmering surfaces people immediately associate with two of Mendelssohn's most popular works, Midsummer Night's Dream and the Octet, which both date from this period. Op. 12 and Op. 13 are also stunningly accomplished for such a young composer.
His middle quartets, Op. 44, Nos. 1-3, show Mendelssohn's mastery of musical texture, with fluid and seamless lines, harmonies that work so well, and wonderful voice-leading. The sheer rush and propulsive energy of some movements are really something new in quartet literature. The Op. 44 quartets also have more emotional depth and introspection than his earlier work, with dark passages and tonal shadings. Mendelssohn's Op. 80, his last quartet and his last complete work, is a deeply emotional, incredible piece. It is very different from his early work, reflecting the intense personal anguish of his life at that time, but it also has moments of breathtaking serenity. Op. 80 not only shows how Mendelssohn developed personally and musically but also gives us insight into what his music might have explored further if his life hadn't been so short. Our recording will also include four movements for string quartet, two composed after Op. 80 and two composed earlier, published together as Op. 81. We are recording with the Chicago classical record label Cedille Records in collaboration with the outstanding New York producer, Judy Sherman. Cedille has been wonderful to work with and very supportive of this project from the beginning. We hope you all enjoy the recordings.
- Pacifica Quartet
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| Comment from Jim Ginsburg, President of Cedille Records: "Cedille is devoted to recording Chicago-area musicians and ensembles. We also seek to document relatively neglected areas of the classical repertory, so we are very excited to work with the Pacifica Quartet on its Mendelssohn project. We agree completely that presenting all the Mendelssohn string quartets together will allow listeners to appreciate the full body of this master's work in the quartet medium and hear how it developed. Pacifica has a bold sound; its players are never afraid to extend themselves intensely into the music they play, so I know these will be outstanding performances. The hall in which we are recording has a great sound, and Judy Sherman consistently produces recordings of audiophile quality. The 3-disc set will be available for purchase early in 2005. Please visit our website, www.cedillerecords.org, for more information." |
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Masumi’s Journal
Ashland, Oregon
February 26, 2004
Yesterday we drove three hours, took a four hour flight and drove another five hours. Too tired to think, we take the first hotel we see in Redding, CA. It is a mistake. The first room I check into has no sheets, chairs on the bed, and bottles of motor oil aligned on the floor. Odd, but not quite what I was hoping for. I return to the front desk for another try. The second room merely has no key or towels. I am too tired to protest.
After a fitful night of as much zealous unrest as my neighbors in the hotel could share with me, we face the remaining two and a half hours of driving we copped out on last night. Today is a concert day. The quartet is slowly waking up as the caffeine begins to course through my colleagues' veins. I am appreciative of their addiction as the atmosphere in the rental van livens up.
The drive is gorgeous. I make numerous mental notes to return here on my own time. We are rarely anywhere long enough to enjoy the place we are in. I consider this kind of travel we do to be great research for places I want to return to later when I have the time to enjoy them properly.
The destination is Ashland, Oregon. We come here in the summers to teach at the Britt Festival. The families we have stayed with for the past several years are like our own now.
This is, unfortunately, not a leisurely drive now. I am scheduled for a radio interview to discuss the next night's concert near San Francisco. We need a land line as cell phones in this terrain are too unreliable for a live radio broadcast. We negotiate the winding roads in our cumbersome minivan with vigor. After several hours of this insanity we arrive with just eight minutes to spare before the station calls me. Somewhat frazzled and jostled from the drive I begin the interview. All seems to be going reasonably well until after the interview is over. Sibbi casually informs me that the program tomorrow starts with a piece other than the one I announced!
We manage a short rest before the rehearsal begins. We last played at this hall six months ago in the summer. It was a harrowing experience then as our flight to Oregon was cancelled. We were stranded in Arizona just hours before the concert. After a pulse-raising race through the airport and many frantic phone calls we found an alternate airport in Oregon to fly to. We get to the concert exactly on time - but without suitcases. We wear our jeans onstage, simply thankful to be there. Now it seems a comparative luxury to lounge in the green room wearing appropriate clothing with ample time to spare.
The concert goes well. No matter how tired you are, when you put bow to string this is all that matters. This is what we came to do. This is what we love to do. As I am preparing for bed later that night I notice a piece of paper that my host has tacked up on the bathroom mirror. It reads, "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body. Better to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming---WOW---what a ride!"
As I brush my teeth I smile a wet frothy smile appreciating the appropriateness of this statement. Good night! |
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Spring Trip to Europe
Following on its successful premier at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2003, the Pacifica Quartet is travelling back over the Atlantic in April 2004 for three performances on the Continent. A concert of the complete string quartets of Elliott Carter will take place at Festival Heidelberg (Germany) on April 18. The ensemble will then travel to Spain for concerts in Bilbao's Sociedad Filarmonico Hall on April 22 and Valencia's Palau de la Musica on April 24.
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Pacifica Quartet Will Help Build Chamber Music Institute at
University of Illinois
Among the enticements that lured the Pacifica Quartet to the University of Illinois was the opportunity to help build a new Chamber Music Institute in the School of Music from the ground up. The Institute will draw pre-formed groups that have previously performed together, and the program is designed to equip young artists with skills in both music and performing-arts management. "It takes both musical experience and business sense to succeed today," said music school director Karl Kramer. "Nobody else is doing this." More about this exciting new program in the next Newsletter!
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Personal Profile
Sibbi Bernhardsson
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What were the most important musical influences when you were a kid?
When I was growing up there was constantly music in our house. My older sister is a violist, and I would hear her practice all the time. My mother also played the piano a lot when I was growing up. When I was 5 my sister wanted to teach me violin. I didn't want to have anything to do with it, but then they took me to a Suzuki concert where there were all these 5-year olds playing, and as soon as I saw them I got incredibly eager to play the violin.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in music?
I knew quite early on that I wanted to be a violinist, but I was very, very serious about soccer as well. My team won the Icelandic national championship three times, and three of the guys who played with me are now playing professionally in Europe. Basically what happened was that when I turned 16 years old I had to make a choice because violin and soccer both required so much time. I had to give up one or the other. It was a tough choice! I love soccer and I follow soccer, but I'm pleased with my decision.
How can such a small country produce so many talented musicians?
The level of music-making in Iceland is quite high. We have a full-time professional symphony orchestra, an opera, a chamber orchestra, and many smaller groups. Reykjavik averages 30 concerts a month, which is not bad for a city of 110,000 people. My answer is that there is a big difference between a small country and a small city. For an independent small country to work we need to do most of the same things a big country does. The people and the government support a cultural life similar to bigger countries. And because the country is small everybody is important, so it's easier to find your niche and pursue a dream. In terms of music training, up to age 16 almost 25% of all kids study music in private lessons or at separate music schools. My generation was also very fortunate. In the 1940s and 1950s there wasn't even a professional orchestra in Iceland, and fewer people played music. But the generation ahead of us went to Europe and America to study music. Somehow these incredibly entrepreneurial dreamers managed to find money to study in Vienna and New York and other places, and they came back and created the Icelandic music scene.
What are your main interests outside the Quartet?
I follow sports, and I am a complete NBA junkie. I am a big Chicago Bulls fan, and I read everything I can find about professional basketball. I try to watch as much basketball as I can, so that's maybe my main hobby.
What kind of popular music do you like?
I like Radiohead and some of the alternative bands. I also like my fellow countrywoman Björk a lot. I like some of the heavier rock, maybe because of the unsubtle energy it has. I keep up-to-date on the music scene in Iceland, and right now electronic music is very big in Iceland. What I find interesting are many similarities between what popular electronic musicians and classically-trained composers are doing in electronic music. If there's any type of music where the two worlds are going to merge, it would be there.
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