By YING KIT TSANG
Hundreds of years ago, concert music was presented at the courts of nobles, and ordinary people had to hope for an invitation to hear music in their music rooms. Today, folks can hear music everywhere. Many places have free concerts for education and entertainment and people can enjoy the music anytime and anywhere. My music class at college required me to go to a concert, and this gave me an opportunity to become interested in Beethoven’s music. I heard Beethoven’s work, String Quartet No. 16, Op135, performed live by the Miró Quartet for the first time, and I will compare a video version and a live version.
During the Miró Quartet’s concert on Sept. 16th, I realized that music is like a fingerprint that is unique and individual, and various musicians exhibit their individual interpretations in how they play. The musician’s, use their unique environment and feelings to shape an independent understanding, and mix their insights to interpret the music, and give new experiences. The song “Without You” by Badfinger is a good modern example of how musicians can interpret the same work differently. According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), “Without You” has been recorded by over 180 artists (Crossley, 2024). In simple words, each musician creates a new interpretation, adding their elements to the old music, and these new interpretation give a different experience to activate audiences. Classical music is the same, where many musicians interpret the same piece and create their own version.
The Miró Quartet is a string quartets consisting of two violins, one viola, and one cello. I attended their concert on Sep 16 2024 at Advent Lutheran Church on New York City’s Upper West Side, and the program was Beethoven — String Quartet, op. 135, George Walker — Lyric for Strings, Caroline Shaw — Microfictions, and Kevin Puts — Home.
Microfictions – Caroline Shaw (b.1982). Overall, I didn’t like this piece. Microfiction’s Prelude is long, and it is an obscure and arcane feeling. Especially, in the middle, a strange atmosphere arises from a sound like an alarm.
Home – Kevin Puts (b. 1972) has a style that is too heavy for me. Home’s prelude is lingering, and I get a philosophical feeling from the prelude. The music shows one of the struggles of life, and it expresses a strong will to live.
Lyric for Strings – George Walker (1922-2018) didn’t make a significant impression on me. I was left without any special feeling for this music but if I must make a decision, I will choose the middle point. The music tries to evoke people’s sympathy for their past and important memories, but it is too dull and monotonous for me.
String Quartet No. 16, Op. 135 by Beethoven was the only work that gave positive feedback, and the music made me happy. I heard it for the first time at the Miró Quartet’s live concert. The music of Beethoven feels like people walking to visit the landscape on the road; the road has dirty and bad things, but it has more beautiful and happy things. The whole music is completely pure, and the negative factors are utilized to support positive aspects.
Although this piece of music brought a good image for me, there was a problem. The concert took place at the Advent Lutheran Church, and the environment wasn’t a good setting for a concert. This is because there were so many noises such as cars, subway sounds, and alarms around the church. All of this was very distracting and took away from the performance of the quartet. Meanwhile, the Ariel Quartet’s performance, which I listened to on YouTube, gave me another feeling and experience with the String Quartet No. 16. The music exhibits a strong story arc feelings, and I got the feeling that someone walking on the road has troubles, but they can use the positive heart to face and achieve a great thing. I have experienced the ups and downs of the two quartets’ interpretations. The Miró Quartet’s interpretation of music and their skills may be amazing. However, the environment had a considerable negative effect on the concert. Good music needs a good environment to hear, and the players’ skills can’t compensate for a bad environment’s interruption. If I had a chance to choose whether I would go to this concert, or if I needed to give a criticism about this concert, my answer is I would not choose to go to this concert.
In sum, the same music is unique when it is played by different people. The player and music complement each other because the music can help a player to express themselves, and the music will show different aspects and feelings to express the player’s history, thoughts, and ideas from the player’s performance.
The source of citation:
Ariel Quartet. “Beethoven String Quartet Op. 135 in F Major – Ariel Quartet (Full).” YouTube, 17 Oct. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hxpIQ3XhXA. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.
Crossley, Neil. “‘He Wanted His Version of the Song to Be a Stark, Heavy Solo-Piano Thing, but They Convinced Him to Turn It into a Grand, Crashing, Theatrical Monster-Ballad, Complete with Orchestra’: The Story of Nilsson’s without You.” MusicRadar, 9 Nov. 2024, www.musicradar.com/artists/singers-songwriters/he-wanted-his-version-of-the-song-to-be-a-stark-heavy-solo-piano-thing-but-they-convinced-him-to-turn-it-into-a-grand-crashing-theatrical-monster-ballad-complete-with-orchestra-the-story-of-nilssons-without-you. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
