Morris Museum presented a tribute to Black composers as its penultimate performance in the new series Lots of Strings on October 17! The evening was clear and cool and the start time for these events has been advancing as the Sun retreats, each day a bit shorter than the one before. On this evening, the intrepid early arrivals were treated to a most excellent pre-concert discussion that featured violinist and artist who created the program, Philip Payton, as well as one of the composers on the program, Trevor Weston, who is also on the faculty of Drew University and the Juilliard School. Moderating was Janine Brown, the Morris Museum’s inaugural Marianne S. Loeb Fellowship winner, designed to increase diversity in many aspects of the world of the arts. Brown is a senior film major at Fairleigh Dickinson University and her questions for these artists revealed a great deal about their approach to their work, how they first became interested in music, and how they achieved their amazing level of skill. Then, the audience had some astute questions about composers and, after a brief break for Payton to warm his hands, the string quartet emerged, tuned and began a most wonderful treat.
The party atmosphere was alive and well on the Back Deck at the Morris Museum. Hot soup and hot tea, however, were more the order of the day than the wine and munchies of the late Summer concerts. The sun slowly descended as the first selection rang out, announced by Payton as the first movement of Adolphus Hailstork’s “Three Spirituals for String Quartet,” based on “We Shall Overcome”. This begins with a simple statement of the theme, heart-rendingly beautiful, that then develops into a baroquely figured delicacy, fraught with emotion and power. The second selection was composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery’s “Voodoo Dolls for String Quartet,” a rich tapestry of percussion and strings that starts with a West Indian style stomp–the juxtaposition of these two pieces right from the gate, by composers born at different ends of the 20th century, thrilled the heart and set the stage for what was to follow.
The evening’s program gave a diverse sampling of several composers' work, and rather than playing each piece in its entirety, Payton gave us the true flavor of the breadth of work by playing portions from each, in a recipe of his own. The first two movements of Florence Price’s “Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet,” “Calvary” with bending figures and a Romantic era conversation among the instruments, then more modern harmonic falling figure gave an idea of her genius. “Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes” begins with a straightforward presentation of the theme, then a key change, return, then a fantasy on the theme that includes divine dissonance, then resolution. “Shortnin’ Bread” rounds out the arc with merry beginning and a playful fantasy of its own.
The next selection included two movements of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “String Quartet Number One–Calvary.” The first movement Allegro is very contemporary and, at moments, has an urban blues aspect. The figures seem like they are on a quest–curious and full of life with broad, delicious harmonies like a skyline sparking at sunset, yet wistful. The third movement Allegro Vivace has a sense of telling a later chapter. The Seeker has found whatever was sought and there is a sense of what has been accomplished with the realization of what has yet to be done. Wisdom has been acquired, and it’s ready to be shared with whomever asks.
Weston returned to the stage to introduce his “Juba for String Quartet”. Weston based this work on Burundi music and there is a nod to Juba there–an African-American style of dance that involves stomping. Each member of the string quartet--in this instance members of the American Symphony Orchestra including concertmaster Cyrus Beroukhim, violinist Phillip Payton, principal viola William Frampton and cellist Alberto Parrini--shares an almost call-and-response stomp-portunity to engage in the dance–while they are playing the music! If you consider how difficult it is to keep common time with one hand and waltz time with the other, then you have an inkling of the brilliance of these musicians. There’s a section of this work where the notes seem to wind down, like entropy in music, then bends up in a slow, willowy to even greater strength and beauty.
William Grant Still, a contemporary and childhood friend of Florence Price, is considered the Dean of African American composers. His “Lyric Quartette” was played in its entirety from the bucolic opening and beautiful arc of “The Sentimental One” through the sweet and contemplative lullaby duet for violins, the murmur of the cello’s human voice and the gravitas of the viola in “The Quiet One” to the Dorian-esque modal sounds, like the layering of happiness in “The Jovial One” that at one point has a tornado of music that borders on Klezmer exuberance and leaves one savoring the air after the last sounds have resonated in the piece.
Yet it fell to Price to have the last word of the evening. The encore was the final movement of her “Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” This so-familiar song that is then given a fugal treatment with the quartet going for Baroque with the flourishes was the perfect dessert for the gourmet music we enjoyed.
Only one more installment of Lots of Strings remained, on October 24. Check out www.morrismuseum.org–hopefully I saw you up on the roof!