String quartets new and old this week at GTMF – JH News&Guide
Composing a string quartet is a daunting undertaking. Even Beethoven found them intimidating, wrestling with the puzzle of writing for four independent voices until he finally finished one to his satisfaction, just shy of age 30. After that, he wrote another 15 that have served as polestars right up to today.
At the Grand Teton Music Festival’s penultimate Benoliel Chamber Music Series concert Thursday, Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 will be paired with Canadian composer Kevin Lau’s seventh, “Surfacing.”
The program will start with Lau’s “and from the heart there flows song,” for trumpet, trombone and piano. It takes its title from English poet Kathleen Raine’s “A Spell for Creation.”
“There was something about the poem, the rhythm … the structure, that translated really well into music,” said Lau. “I’ve only heard it once in concert.”
French trombonist-composer Andre Lafosse’s “Suite Impromptu” keeps the focus on the brass, adding a second trumpet, a horn and tuba. Among brass players, it is considered on of the best chamber works of the 20th century.
“It’s a real thrill to have our brass players up front,” said Adelle Eslinger Runnicles, who curates the chamber series and considers it part of her job to represent all sections of the orchestra.
Lau’s String Quartet No. 7 closes the first half. The Poiesis Quartet, which commissioned it, won first place with it in the 2025 Banff String Quartet Competition.
Lau said he felt the weight of the quartet form bear down on him over his 10 years at the University of Toronto, during which time he squeaked out two of them.
“I felt like I was grappling with a lot of history,” he said. “It was like being always faced with the mountain you have to climb.”
His wrote his third and fourth quartets over six years after graduating, and then, starting in 2022, he turned out three more.
After intermission comes Beethoven’s String Quartet No 1 in F Major. Premiered in 1799, it later underwent significant changes, “having now learned how to write quartets.” as he wrote to a friend.
Mostly light and nimble, it takes a forlorn turn with its “adagio” second movement, which, Beethoven said, was composed with the crypt scene from “Romeo and Juliet” in mind.
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