An eclectic mix of beautiful haunting melodies and loud fast paced movements filled the music room as a string quartet played for a free concert Thursday, April 19.
The performance was very interesting, with a student “knocking out” in his chair and falling onto the ground startling everyone around him and ending the first movement.
Student Patrick Tobin was at the show.
“I’m into music anyway, I know a lot of kids have to come, but I am just into it,” Patrick Tobin a student, said.
The Arabic inspiration for the second piece was obvious and entertaining.
Eric Lee, the cellist used the bow to hit the strings and his hand to tap the base of his cello creating a drumming rhythm.
“We’re very excited because we’ve been working on this piece for a long time and it’s our first time performing the whole piece,” Lee said.
Violinist Rhea Fowler also played an almost constant rhythm.
The string quartet consisted of two violins, a viola and a cello.
Three movements that followed were fast paced, intense and included the cellist and violinists plucking and playing their instruments at different points.
Cellist Eric Lee was even strumming his cello like a guitar during some pieces.
The unique sound was captivating and dragged you into the journey that is Béla Bartók’s work.
A journey because his three pieces move you, they make you feel unnerved, anxious, and sad at different points.
The quartet’s bows moved up and down rapidly as the musicians tightened their faces with concentration while the crowd watched silently.
One of the violinists Mira Anderson has been playing since she was four years old; she lived in the Ukraine and moved to America nine years ago.
“I think it’s a really cool piece, there are a lot of interesting moments and I hope that everyone gets to enjoy different parts of it,” Anderson said.
According to Lee, the group has been performing together for two quarters and they practice three times a week for two hours.
Sean Tabatabai, a computer science major, is taking a music appreciation class that requires him to see six free concerts, yet this concert, is his eighth.
“I just love music,” Tabatabai said, “and I loved this concert, it was beautiful; I’ve never heard of Bartok before this.”
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