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 although you thought you were following the arc of the story, you keep finding yourself immersed in passages you don’t understand, that don’t even seem to belong in the same genre—which requires you to go back and reread the chapters you had originally skimmed to get to the good parts, only to learn that all along you were supposed to choose your own adventure.”
The Fairmount String Quartet will launch Women’s History Month with the world premiere of young female composer and International Alliance for Women in Music’s Libby Larsen Prize winner Addison Rider’s three-movement work entitled “Nodus Tollens” in which she skillfully evokes the emotion of Nodus Tollens. The FSQ met Rider at Spring Garden Records while recording their “Unleashed” album of music by women composers. The meeting resulted in a recording of “Nodus Tollens” which was released in November 2023 and is available on all major streaming platforms. Rider will be present at both performances to speak about her work and will greet concertgoers at a reception following the March 3rd performance.
The program also includes Germaine Tailleferre’s String Quartet. The only female member of “Les Six” (which included Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, and Francois Poulenc) Tailleferre was awarded more prizes at the Paris Conservatoire than any other member of Les Six and yet struggled to exist solely on composing, often having to find other work to survive. She was subjected to sexist reviews that commented on her dressmaker’s skill and how “every onlooker appreciates it”. Nodus Tollens.
The third woman composer on the program is Rhiannon Giddens whose song “At the Purchaser’s Option” was written after finding in a book a 19th-century advertisement for a 22-year-old enslaved woman whose 9-month-old baby was also for sale, but “at the purchaser’s option.” Nodus Tollens. The Fairmount String Quartet will perform this in an instrumental arrangement by Jacob Garchik, but the lyrics of the original song are as follows:
I’ve got a babe but shall I keep him
‘Twill come the day when I’ll be weepin’
But how can I love him any less
This little babe upon my breast
You can take my body
You can take my bones
You can take my blood
But not my soul
You can take my body
You can take my bones
You can take my blood
But not my soul
I’ve got a body dark and strong
I was young but not for long
You took me to bed a little girl
Left me in a woman’s world
You can take my body
You can take my bones
You can take my blood
But not my soul
You can take my body
You can take my bones
You can take my blood
But not my soul
Day by day I work the line
Every minute overtime
Fingers nimble, fingers quick
My fingers bleed to make you rich
You can take my body
You can take my bones
You can take my blood
But not my soul
You can take my body
You can take my bones
You can take my blood
But not my soul
The final work on the program is Franz Schubert’s String Quartet #14 in d minor, subtitled “Death and the Maiden”. Written while grappling with the knowledge of his incurable illness, which would take him at just 31 years old, this much-beloved work is full of calm beauty and explosive passion as the Maiden is pursued by Death. Nodus Tollens.
Things don’t always go the way you expect them to. We welcome you to join us in an exploration of Nodus Tollens.
March 2, 2024 – 7:30 PM – PYO Music Institute at St. Patrick Hall, 240 South 20th St., Phila., PA
Tickets
March 3, 2024 – 3:00 PM – The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 8000 St. Martins Lane, Phila., PA
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