In this time of online media replacing the live event due to the curent pandemic, Manchester's RNCM have joined the webspace with a series of concerts being performed live inside the RNCM building but to an empty auditorium, or perhaps just a handful of invited guests. This is 'Live From The RNCM'. However last Thursday saw them start a new initiative still as part of the same series: 'Thursday Lates'. Here each section of the school has a concert dedicated to themselves to highlight and showcase just one small section of what goes on behind the RNCM's closed doors. These Thursday Live concerts are only available to watch online each Thursday via their website, and this, their second concert featured the school's strings.
In fact, only one work was showcased this evening, and that was Brahms's second String Sextet (in G major, opus 36). The concert featured 12 string players, each set of six taking two movements each (from the four in the piece). The musicians were a mix of students, RNCM lecturers, and working professionals, and this mix gave the students who did play an excellent 'work-out' and great opportunity to work alongside those who actively make a living from their playing. Especially in these new and strange times when there is more than ever massive uncertainty of the future of live music.
For the first two movements (allegro non troppo and scherzo), the sextet consisted of Magnus Johnston, Donald Grant, Kin Becker, Emily Davies, Lili Hollande-Fricke, and Julius Jonuses; whilst after a short break to disinfect and clean the performance area, the final two movements (adagio and poco allegro), were played by Xander Croft, Pijus Jonuses, Susie Meszaros, Chance Freeman, Petr Prause, and Felix Hughes. My first reaction on hearing this sextet was that I was watching six musicians all sitting further away from each other than they would be normally, and there was no conductor, and yet this is broad and sweeping Romantic music whcih relies heavily on musical expression and dynamicism. I was not aware at any point that one of the six was 'the leader' (although this role would traditionally be given to the first violin), and yet the phrasing, the craftmanship of the ensemble playing, and the overall arc of the piece was superbly mastered. Every pause or slight hiatus was clean, and the start and end of each movement clear and crisp, and every stroke beautifully marked. Even the delicacy of the technique in the final movement, which has been done quite heavy-handedly in the past, was flawless...quite remarkable.
The piece itself should last about 38 minutes to play straight through, but obviously, the playing this evening did drag somewhat due to the "new norm". A sedate, extremly poignant and unusually slow opening sets this piece apart from the masses, and alongside the piece's unusual scoring and chord structures, this sextet stands out as somewhat ahead of its time. The long and heart-wrenching first movement being extremely personal to Brahms; he had not long since broken relations with the only woman he truly loved, Agathe Von Siebold, whilst he was being wooed by Robert Schumann's widow, Clara. Scholars suggest that the AGABE theme of this movement is a direct refernece to Agathe: an B in our notation is signed as H in German, and the T has been forgotten. (?). The second movement is one of two halves; starting with allegro non troppo the theme is reminiscent of local Gypsy music, whilst the second theme, presto giocoso is in the form of an Austrian Laendler. A shorter and more thoughtful third movement takes us into a finally high-spirited and optimistic final movement.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 8/10/20
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