Staff Notes
Nodus Tollens
What is Nodus Tollens and why is the Fairmount String Quartet’s upcoming program entitled Nodus Tollens? According to the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, Nodus Tollens is “the realization that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense to you anymore—that…
Amplifying Women’s Voices
by Rachel Segal When I was asked to travel to Alaska to play the US premiere of "Missing" with Anchorage Opera, I thought it would be another fun, cool new music project and I was very excited. What I didn't…
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
by Mimi Morris Kim The first time I performed the Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847) String Quartet in Eb with the Fairmount String Quartet, we performed it alongside her more famous brother Felix's brilliant quartet in D major. I was a…
Meet Teresa Carreño
Singer, composer, pianist, mother to five children with three different men; wife to four husbands, two of whom were brothers; lived in New York, Paris, Coswig, Germany, and Caracas; performed for two Presidents at the White House; has a book…
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Pan-Continental Composer
Composed in 1896, the Fantasiestücke of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composed when he was just 21, is both an homage to Schumann and a heralding of the prodigious talents of the young composer. Coleridge-Taylor was of mixed race, born to an Englishwoman…
Lark Dances
“The Lark” quartet by Franz Joseph Haydn was one of the first string quartets I studied as a music student. In 2009, I was commissioned by Jeanne Ruddy Dance to write an electronic piece loosely based on this quartet. I…
Lazy Sunday Covers
I put the Lazy Sunday Covers playlist together because I like to listen to acoustic versions of songs when I’m relaxing. I also love to hear what other artists do with material. I included some of the songs in the…
“Quarantunes”
When Spring Garden Records producer Starkey asked me to put together a “Quarantunes” playlist for the SGR Spotify page, my goal was to share some of the music that has touched, inspired, and spoken to me throughout my life. I listen to…
The Making of “Spoken with Strings”
Today we released our debut album “Spoken with Strings” on the Spring Garden Records label which describes the album as “nine carefully chosen and artfully arranged selections from the contemporary pop canon as interpreted by the singular brilliance of players…
Program notes on Debussy’s String Quartet in g minor
Claude Debussy was a young composer in 1893. Just 31 years old, he was a relative unknown and had yet to make his mark. (That would happen the following year with his orchestral masterpiece, "Afternoon of a Faun.") Like most…
Program notes on Jennifer Higdon’s “Sky Quartet”
“When I began composing "Sky Quartet", I envisioned the wonder and immensity of the Western sky. This is especially appropriate since the Da Vinci Quartet resides in Colorado. Every time I've been west of the Mississippi, I've always marveled at…
She Persisted
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was one of America’s foremost female composers, and the first American woman ever to have her music performed by the Boston Symphony. Her Gaelic Symphony was performed by them in 1896 when she was only twenty-nine…
Notes on Brahms Piano Quintet in f minor Op. 34: If at first you don’t succeed try, try again…
Johannes Brahms’ piano quintet had a long and difficult gestation. He composed it initially as a string quintet in 1862, modeling it after the great cello quintet of Franz Schubert. He sent the first three movements to his friends and…
Notes on Mozart’s String Quartet in Eb K.428 – the third child entrusted to Haydn
Mozart’s String Quartet in Eb, K. 428, one of six dedicated to Haydn, was written in the summer of 1783. In 1781, after meeting Haydn and hearing Haydn’s Op. 33 string quartets, Mozart was inspired to master this medium. These…
On Writing Danzon #2
“The idea of writing the Danzón No. 2 originated in 1993 during a trip to Malinalco with the painter Andrés Fonseca and the dancer Irene Martínez, both of whom are experts in salon dances with a special passion for the…
Notes on Shostakovich’s 3rd String Quartet
The String Quartet No. 3 in F major, opus 73, was the only work Dmitri Shostakovich composed in 1946. He was very pleased with it. He wrote to the second violinist and manager of the Beethoven Quartet, for whom he…
Notes on Amazing Grace
First heard by the public on New Years Day, 1773, the original hymn "Amazing Grace" was written by former slave ship captain and slave trader John Newton, later ordained by the Church of England. It was published in 1779 but…
Notes on the “Quinten”
One of my favorite days of the year is when we get together to decide on repertoire for the coming season. Last Spring at that meeting I immediately put in a request for this Haydn Quartet, wishing to revisit a…
What’s a Harmony for Humanity Concert?
The Fairmount String Quartet will perform our annual “Harmony for Humanity” concerts on Saturday, October 20th at 7:30 PM in the Chapel at the Presbyterian Church in Chestnut Hill and on Sunday, October 21st at 3:00 PM at All Saints Church…
The Restorative Power of “Prayer”
I recently experienced a phenomenon with my mom like nothing I’ve seen before. I had just finished creating the raw files for Alight, my recording project with the composer Amanda Harberg at the piano, and had them with me in my…
Wolf, Britten, Ravel and Wes Anderson?
On April 23rd, the Fairmount String Quartet will perform: Hugo Wolf - Italian SerenadeBenjamin Britten - Simple SymphonyMaurice Ravel - String Quartet in F I have been looking forward to this program all season! Three important works that I just…
