Ravel's String Quartet and the Age of Opulence
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David YangRavel was an ardent collector of Art Nouveau and Art Deco with its stylized and stylish ideals
When I was a teenager, I got a job one summer working as a bike messenger in New York. We were paid by the number of deliveries, and our reputation for riding recklessly was well-earned; that summer was one long adrenalin rush. One day I had a package to pick up in a used record shop and wound up stopping to chat with the kindly owner. He gifted me a record full of music new to me: Lieder, or, in English, “art song.”
These songs are inevitably heart-on-the-sleeve, serving up love lost and found with an extra helping of sweet suffering. Here are lyrics to a song from “Winterreise” (Winter Journey) by Schubert. The cycle details the dismal journey of a rejected lover in winter and was written during that prodigiously prolific last year.
THE LINDEN TREE
English Translation by Richard Wigmore from a poem by Wilhelm Müller
By the well, before the gate,
stands a linden tree;
in its shade I dreamt
many a sweet dream.
In its bark I carved
many a word of love;
in joy and sorrow
I was ever drawn to it.
Today, too, I had to walk
past it at dead of night;
even in the darkness
I closed my eyes.And its branches rustled
as if they were calling to me:
‘Come to me, friend,
here you will find rest.’
The cold wind blew
straight into my face,
my hat flew from my head;
I did not turn back.
Now I am many hours’ journey
from that place;
yet I still hear the rustling:
‘There you would find rest.’Listen to how the piano line mimics the lyrics. The opening sounds just like “branches rustling” calling “here you will find rest” (“rest” being a euphemism for death and the end of suffering).
Recently I’ve been on a Schumann kick, in particular the cycle “Dichterliebe” (A Poet’s Love). In the way it can evoke a world of feeling in 58 seconds, this kind of short form is a direct precursor to Anton Webern’s 20th Century miniatures.
Who would think that a love of riding bicycles could lead to the discovery of a new art form? Anyone up for a ride when I come up? Who knows what we would discover?
David Yang, Artistic Director
By
David YangRavel was an ardent collector of Art Nouveau and Art Deco with its stylized and stylish ideals
By
David YangThis summer, we’ll be performing piano quintets by Schumann (happy!) and Schnittke (maybe not so happy…).
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David YangBrahms, Schumann, Kurtag, Schnittke, Ligeti, Liszt, a world premiere by Castillo with theremin, puppet shows, oh my!
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