Howard Who?

There’s something about writing for four parts that is pure. No doubt that is probably why choirs are divided SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). No doubt that’s why Bach wrote his experimental last movements of Art of Fugue in four parts. And no doubt that’s why the Beatles chose to be the Fab Four.

This leads me to the greatest testament to foursomeness: the string quartet. A chamber arrangement that started about 300 years ago, it’s the sonic equivalent of a tuxedo. In fact, so much of the new string quartet recordings are based around this gimmick…the dressing up of Radiohead, Tool, Elliott Smith, Aerosmith, Tupac, etc. There’s even a guy who specializes in this with his own website. And similarly there are attempts at dressing down the string quartet, notably Bond (below), a string quartet of attractive girls determined to bring sexy back into it.

But what makes the string quartet viable today is that it is so artistically potent from Beethoven to Bartok, from Schubert to Shostakovich. And there are people out there subverting it in ways that don’t make you shudder.

The best example of this is the Kronos Quartet (above), probably the greatest string quartet of our time. They are the driving force in revitalizing its contemporary use and have commissioned or premiered an unparalleled number of string quartets. And moreover, they routinely take the form to different cultures and different mediums. A quick scan of their last dozen or so albums reveals collaborations with composers from India, China, Mexico, Argentina, Iran, Lebanon, and America…and that’s without mentioning the vast repertoire of works they’ve performed which they haven’t yet recorded. As David Harrington, founder and first violinist, will tell you, the string quartet is in its Golden Age, no longer just a European thing but a global one.

While the list of great Kronos recordings is really too many to count, I’d like to point out one which has entered the mainstream canon. Clint Mansell’s score for Requiem for a Dream mixes sounds from Mansell’s electro roots with Kronos’ string urgency. You may remember it from commercials and trailers for movies like Lord of the Rings.

Summer Overture (mp3) - Clint Mansell featuring Kronos Quartet Buy

Another subversive group is the Brodsky Quartet (above). While this group’s repertoire does consist of mainly the European classical canon, they do veer into the contemporary world in a compelling way.They’ve been able to record and perform with Bjork and Elvis Costello in arrangements of pop songs. With Bjork, they played an acclaimed concert in London and recorded a cover of Hyperballad for the B side of the It’s Oh So Quiet single. With Elvis Costello, they recorded two albums and have performed together many times. These arrangements are not tribute pieces, but actual re-orchestrations of the songs in new and interesting ways.

Hyperballad with Brodsky Quartet (mp3) - Bjork Buy

God Only Knows (mp3) - Elvis Costello Buy

The string quartet also holds a funny place in the film lexicon. It is always the music you hear whenever an exquisite high class meal or event is meant to be had. It doesn’t matter what the movie is (Wedding Crashers used a Haydn quartet), it rears its head to state “class” in no uncertain terms.

So when Jon Brion had to score I Heart Huckabees, I could imagine him begging director David O. Russell to let him score the “classy restaurant” scene. Of course he uses a string quartet. But instead of trotting out Mozart or Hadyn, you get a cover of Brion’s song “Didn’t Think It Would Turn Out Bad,” and it’s really uncanny. I didn’t realize he wrote this until I checked out the soundtrack.

Didn’t Think It Would Turn Out Bad (mp3) - Jon Brion Buy

Didn’t Think It Would Turn Out Bad with string quartet (mp3) - Jon Brion

And to return full circle, how could I discuss quartets without the Fab Four themselves? Eleanor Rigby remains the seminal use of string quartet in a pop song. Well, to be exact, they used an octet (each string is doubled), but who’s counting?

Eleanor Rigby (mp3) - The Beatles Buy

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 30th, 2006 at 6:24 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Classical Music, Film Music, Pop Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.