the open string sonority of blue cathedral john cage

THE OPEN STRING SONORITY OF BLUE CATHEDRAL JOHN CAGE FULL

I remember when I was coached by Rudolf Kolisch and Zoltan Szekely, the respective founders of the Kolisch and Hungarian string quartets, the groups that first brought the Schoenberg and Bartók quartets to the public. It requires deeper consideration, more serious engagement, and-above all-slowing down. This harmonic approach cannot be achieved at our society’s breakneck pace. He has forsaken the so-called “hero’s journey”-a linear approach to life that mirrors melodic values, in favor of another, richer way of being: to work towards pure, honest relationships with others by using a vertical, harmonic approach concentrating on perfect intervals, the advantage being that it produces less discord, increased resonance, and maximum clarity-to borrow the title of the 2006 book of Johnston’s collected writings.

He has come to embrace a philosophy that there are two ways to live.

THE OPEN STRING SONORITY OF BLUE CATHEDRAL JOHN CAGE FULL

At age 90, a full fifteen years after he stopped writing music, Johnston has come to a place in his life where his main goal is to have a positive impact on his environment. Much has been written about Johnston’s music, so I will concentrate here on the history of these recordings.īy virtue of our recording project, the Kepler Quartet has had a privileged window into the essentially spiritual quest in Johnston’s music.

This year marks composer Ben Johnston’s 90th birthday, and the passage of fourteen years since the Kepler Quartet (in which I play second violin) began to record the entire cycle of Johnston’s ten string quartets. He even dares you to go on that journey with him. Able to envision past, present, and future in a parallel universe that recognizes beauty as it already exists? Check. Sacrificing or not compromising for personal concerns, achieving feats of ingenuity for the greater good? Check. New advances in a domain of knowledge? Check.

And by the standard criteria, that is all true. Video by Ross MonagleBen Johnston has been called a genius, a hero, a visionary. Posted on Maby Eric Segnitz - Analysis, Articles Category: Analysis Stay Tuned: Celebrating Ben Johnston’s 90th Birthday with his 10 String Quartets

The open string sonority of blue cathedral john cage