The BSQ has been ensemble-in-residence at the New England Conservatory and Taos School of Music, both for 25 years, and has, for over two decades, enjoyed a long-term relationship with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where it continues to regularly appear. CLASSIC VIDEO uses one movement of a quartet as the platform from which to teach computer drawing, video editing, animation, musical form and production processes to create a meaningful joining of music and visual art. One such program is MATHEMUSICA which delves into the numerical relationships that under-pin the sounds of music and show how musical syntax mirrors natural forms.

This produces delightfully refreshing viewpoints and has been a springboard for its acclaimed young people’s programs. The ensemble uses multi-media tools such as video projection to share the often surprising creative process behind some works, or to show graphically the elaborate architecture behind others. Passionate educators, the Borromeos encourage audiences of all ages to explore and listen to both traditional and contemporary repertoire in new ways. And in 2003 the Borromeo became the first classical ensemble to make its own live concert recordings and videos, distributing them for many years to audiences through its Living Archive, a music learning web portal for which a new version will soon be released. The Borromeo players have embraced it in their daily musical lives like no other major chamber music group.” Moreover, the Quartet often leads discussions enhanced by projections of handwritten manuscripts, investigating with the audience the creative process of the composer. As the New York Times noted, “The digital tide washing over society is lapping at the shores of classical music. Reading music this way helps push artistic boundaries, allowing the artists to perform solely from 4-part scores and composers’ manuscripts, a revealing and metamorphic experience which these dedicated musicians now teach to students around the world. Inspiring audiences for more than 25 years, the Borromeo continues to be a pioneer in its use of technology, and has the trailblazing distinction of being the first string quartet to utilize laptop computers on the concert stage. Admired and sought after for both its fresh interpretations of the classical music canon and its championing of works by 20th and 21st century composers, the ensemble has been hailed for its “edge-of-the- seat performances,” by the Boston Globe, which called it “simply the best.” So, top recommendations for both works, and an inspired coupling – don’t hesitate.Each visionary performance of the award-winning Borromeo String Quartet strengthens and deepens its reputation as one of the most important ensembles of our time. And at last here’s a performance of the Vivace second movement that makes this music sound as though it really was conceived for four solo strings – not as a string orchestra manqué. The slow movement of the Sibelius is glorious: poised and eloquent, it shows its composer rediscovering the possibilities of the simplest tonal harmonies at a time when Schoenberg was rejecting them. If there’s less angst than usual, the gains in tenderness, delicacy and in sense of overall musical shape strike a deeper vein of authenticity. It’s wonderful to hear the Schoenberg played not only with such flawless intonation, but also with such understanding for the way the music thinks harmonically. Here are two composers courageously entering new imaginative worlds, and opening up vistas that surprise The Sibelius is said to sit, not entirely comfortably, between the neo-classicism of the Third Symphony and the dark explorations of the Fourth – and does it really work as chamber music? But after the Tetzlaff Quartet’s performances these issues seem barely relevant. The Schoenberg – so we’re told – shows him repeatedly teetering on the edge of the atonal chasm before drawing back in relief. But hearing these works side by side is fascinating and strangely moving.īoth quartets have tended to be seen as problematic: transition works rather than fully focused statements. Two excellent, profoundly insightful performances, beautifully recorded, ought to be recommendation enough. Here’s a recording that offers rewards on so many levels. 56 (Voces Intimae) Schoenberg: String Quartet No.

WORKS: Sibelius: String Quartet in D minor, Op.

Sibelius string quartets