For my last off campus performance, I attended the Takacs Quartet at the La Jolla Music Society on Friday December 9th 2016 with a couple friends from the music class. There were three main performances within the Takets Quartet. There was the String Quartet in G Minor, String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 9, and String Quartet in B-flat Major. The atmosphere was full of anticipation and excitement waiting for the symphony to start.
The first one piece that was played was the String Quartet in G Minor composed Claude Debussy composed during the Romantic period. The overall arching theme of this piece is joyous and the mood being optimistic. The very beginning of the first theme is what the whole rest of the piece is based off of and …show more content…
4, Sz. 91 composed Bela Bartok during the modern period. This piece is made up of four movements: allegro con brio, Allegretto ma non troppo, Allegro assai vivace ma serioso, and allegretto agitato. The first movement lasts between four to five minutes and is the shortest of all Beethoven’s quartets but is integral to the piece because it helps build tension for the next movements. The second movement moves much faster than the first which gives off a rushed feeling and also relieves the buildup of tension from the first movement. The third movement is something entirely different than the first two in the sense that it is more folk like and doesn’t have a rushed feeling. The fourth movement is more alike the second movement because it is faster and it requires the same plucking that was used in the first movement. The finale mirrors the first and includes a slow introduction, however the majority of it would be characterizes at intense. At 5:11 the viola slowly opens up with a very minimalistic and soft tone, then the rest of the strings accompany the musician. At 6:00 a very beautiful and concentration-like melody is played with all of the strings playing in unison, creates an atmosphere of serenity. At 6:55 the sounds build up exponentially until they all begin to play a very solemn and sad tone. At 7:30 the entire composition of the song changes as the music is now played in a very somber state and very quietly. At 7:58 …show more content…
This quartet consists of six movements that lasts about 50 minutes total. The quartet is made up of a big first movement, four shorter inner movements, and the concluding movement. The movements are adagio, presto, andante, allegro, cavatina, and grande fugue. The first movement begins slow and it actually reappears later on in the piece. Most all of the pieces began solemnly and then recovery to a lighter tone. One of the most famous movements in all of Beethoven’s quartets is Cavatina because it is intense and leaves individuals awestruck. The conclusion begins with string instruments, the violin and cello. At 0:30 one of the violins split off and plays the main melody as a solo while the rest of the instruments quiet down and begin to play the bass notes in the background or continue as fillers. At 2:00 it is all incorporated into one complete melody. They all play different notes creating a beautiful harmony that intertwines these sounds together. At 3:00, they have begun to play in a minor key which resembles with a more somber form of playing. They also begin to speed up, the cello playing in quarters, while the rest of them playing in sharp eighths. At 4:00 returns to the main melody. All of them play the familiar sounds they have repeated once or twice already. At 6:00 the quartet sounds different because it has begun to sound flat, in a minor but