The Vega Quartet
Originally uploaded by John Setzler.
We had a rather nice treat at school this afternoon. The Vega Quartet presented a short performance in the school library just after lunch. The Vega Quartet is the quartet in residence at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
The short program today consisted of four selections:
Italian Serenade - Hugo Wolf
Dissonance Quartet - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Fourth Movement of String Quartet #4 - Bela Bartok
Last Movement of String Quartet #1 - Bela Bartok
I’m a fan of classical music. I really enjoyed the first two selections of their performance. Bartok is one composer who I have never really been able to understand. From the view of a musician, I can certainly appreciate the technical difficulty of performing Bartok’s works. What I haven’t managed to appreciate yet is the sound of Bartok’s compositions. I find them very challenging to hear. I really have to concentrate on the music to even begin to understand it. I think Bartok’s works are some of those where an understanding of the composer’s life and attitude is required in advance of digesting his music :)
Hiya John. Nice image you have here. Very nice. You have managed to convey the musician in your work through this piece. How is it that you always seem to capture musicians so well?
I also appreciate classical music but admit to being particular about the composers I favor. In fact, I suspect my classical tastes are very mainstream, as I have a strong preference for the works of Vivaldi, Bach, Rimsky, and a few others. Bartok is one I don’t recognize except by name, I have none of his works laying around that I am aware of, but I can imagine that it would be like trying to appreciate Debussy, whom I have difficult time with. Seems that some composers click with you, some don’t. Some you can work through and learn to enjoy (I actually have this problem with Mozart’s works) and some it seems you are better off leaving well enough alone.
Thanks for the pic, it’s a dandy.
-Michael