CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Takács Quartet
Philip Seymour Hoffman

Zankel Hall
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 7:30 PM

Takács Quartet
·· Edward Dusinberre, Violin
·· Károly Schranz, Violin
·· Geraldine Walther, Viola
·· András Fejér, Cello
Dramatic Readings by Philip Seymour Hoffman

Academy Award–winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman joins the Takács Quartet for an inventive evening of words and music. The program includes a lyrical meditation on mortality from Philip Roth’s Everyman, read by Hoffman, as well as Schubert’s famed quartet “Death and the Maiden,” preceded by the poem that was its inspiration.

PÄRT Psalom
Reading from Philip Roth's Everyman
GLASS String Quartet No. 2, "Company"
Reading from Everyman
PÄRT Summa
Reading from Everyman
PÄRT Fratres
Reading of Matthias Claudius's "Death and the Maiden"
SCHUBERT String Quartet in D Minor, D.810, "Death and the Maiden"

Program Notes:

In the Artist’s Own Words

This evening’s program is inspired by Philip Roth’s meditation on death, Everyman. Philip Seymour Hoffman will read three scenes from the book that take place at a run-down cemetery off the New Jersey Turnpike, south of Newark airport. In the novel these scenes create a musical structure of exposition, development, and recapitulation. An exploration of grief, fear, horror, and the need for consolation evolves like a musical motif.

The music that surrounds Everyman in the first half of the program is intended to place Roth’s work in a contemporary musical context. Arvo Pärt’s music for quartet is in his “tintinnabuli” style, dramatically suitable for our purposes in evoking the peal of bells and the melding of overtones created by them. Pärt describes tintinnabulation as “an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for the answers—in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no meaning. The complex and many-faceted only confuses me, and I must search for unity.” Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 2 was published as an independent string quartet in 1984, but was originally conceived for string orchestra as a musical dramatization of Samuel Beckett’s play Company, in which an old man lies on his back in a darkened room and recalls scenes from his past.

In Matthias Claudius’s poem “Death and the Maiden,” set by Schubert as a song in 1817 and returned to in 1824 for his string quartet of the same name, Death tries to deceive the Maiden, masquerading as a soothing, consoling presence. Death’s power to deceive is also present at the end of Everyman, where, in the protagonist’s last moments, a vision of boyhood vitality gives him belief in his capacity to survive.

How similar and different are these artistic responses to the human predicament? What, if anything, do they suggest about our society today compared with the world of Schubert’s Vienna in 1824? When I read Everyman last summer I was immediately struck by its musicality and was curious to place it with contemporary string quartets and next to Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden.” We are grateful to Philip Roth, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Carnegie Hall for making this experimental program possible.

Edward Dusinberre, Takács Quartet

Notes on the Program
By Peter Laki

ARVO PÄRT Psalom, Summa, Fratres
Born September 11, 1935, in Paide, Estonia; now living in Berlin.

Psalom was composed in 1985 and revised in 1995 and in 1997.
Summa was composed in 1978 and revised in 1991.
Fratres was composed in 1977 and subsequently reworked in numerous versions and arrangements.

Tonight’s performance marks the Carnegie Hall premieres of Psalom and Summa. Fratres received its Carnegie Hall premiere in Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Recital Hall) on December 19, 1980, with Gidon Kremer, violin, and Elena Kremer, piano.

Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass, born within less than two years of each other, have both been described as “minimalists”—a term whose inadequacy is becoming clearer by the day. After all, even though these composers use a reduced number of musical elements, the effect of their music is anything but “minimal.” In different ways, the Estonian and the American composer have both connected their “minimalistic” devices to spiritual, philosophical, or literary ideas. Much if not all of Pärt’s work is religiously inspired. The composer joined the Russian Orthodox Church in 1972, which was an act of faith, certainly, but also an act of political protest in the Soviet Union as well as an artistic act—the rich polyphony of the Orthodox musical tradition soon became a major source of inspiration for the composer. Likewise in the work of Glass, one of the most important living composers for the musical theater, the trademark arpeggios (broken chords) and ostinatos (“obstinately” repeated rhythmic patterns) often have a dimension pointing beyond the notes themselves. That is what makes the juxtaposition of this music with a literary reading so meaningful.

Paul Hillier, the singer and conductor who has written an excellent monograph on Pärt, calls Psalom a “tiny, almost evanescent” work, its “nine varied statements of a single melodic idea … vanishing into silence” as soon as they are “brushed into being.” The title, the Russian form of the word “psalm,” indicates that Pärt was thinking of the simple melodic formulas to which psalms were sung in both the Eastern and the Western liturgical traditions, though he did not quote any of the actual formulas.

Pärt’s Summa—the title is meant in the medieval sense of “summary” or “synthesis,” as in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa theologiae—was originally a four-part vocal work on the words “Credo in unum Deum” (“I believe in one God”). The composer later decided to omit the words and create a purely instrumental piece (this version was introduced in 1991). The freely flowing melodic lines are reminiscent of Renaissance polyphony, in which Pärt first immersed himself in the 1970s. The basic building blocks may be traditional, but their combination, as always in Pärt, yields some highly original results, producing what one commentator called an “aura of wonder, mystery, and timelessness.”

Fratres is one of Pärt’s signature works from the early days of what he calls his tintinnabuli style (after the Latin word for “small bells”). The work is based on recurrent harmonic progressions and rhythmic cycles that are reminiscent of the 14th-century isorhythmic motet (the most famous representative of the genre was Guillaume de Machaut). The structural backbone of Pärt’s work is provided by a sequence of rhythmic units arranged in successive groups of 7/4, 9/4, and 11/4, respectively. Each repeat is modified in some way so that the work becomes something like a set of variations.


PHILIP GLASS String Quartet No. 2, “Company”
Born January 31, 1937, in Baltimore; now living in New York.

Composed in 1983.

Glass’s String Quartet No. 2 originated as a set of four interludes for a dramatized reading of the short novel Company by Samuel Beckett. In this novel, published in 1980, a protagonist, nameless like Philip Roth’s Everyman, looks back on his once-active life in a world that has become totally empty. At present, his only “company” is a mysterious voice he hears, a voice he imagines to be just as lonely as he is. Beckett’s prose style has a definite kinship with “minimalist” music, as the following brief excerpt will show:

To one on his back in the dark. This he can tell by the pressure on his hind parts and by how the dark changes when he shuts his eyes and again when he opens them again. Only a small part of what is said can be verified. As for example when he hears, You are on your back in the dark. Then he must acknowledge the truth of what is said. But by far the greater part of what is said cannot be verified. As for example when he hears, You first saw the light on such and such a day. Sometimes the two are combined as for example, You first saw the light on such and such a day and now you are on your back in the dark.

The work is in four short movements (slow, fast, slow, and moderately fast), which were originally interludes inserted in the performance at points selected by Beckett. Despite being constantly in motion, the music ultimately represents complete stasis; in this context, a single unexpected chord change can be an event of momentous significance.


FRANZ SCHUBERT String Quartet in D Minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden”
Born January 31, 1797, in Vienna, Austria; died there November 19, 1828.

Schubert completed his D-Minor String Quartet, D. 810, in 1824, though he apparently revised it before its first performance, which was a private airing on February 1, 1826, at the home of Josef Barth in Vienna. The public premiere took place posthumously, on March 12, 1833, when it was performed in Berlin at one of the so-called Musical Gatherings of Karl Möser. The Quartet received its Carnegie Hall premiere in Chamber Music Hall (now Weill Recital Hall) on December 6, 1891,with New York Symphony String Quartet: Adolph Brodsky and Jules Conus, violins; Jan Koert, viola; and Anton Hekking, cello.

If one were to compile an anthology of poems on the subject of death, Matthias Claudius (1740–1815) would have a prominent place in the book. Remembered in Germany to this day for his simple, folksong-like style, this North German contemporary of Goethe wrote a strikingly large number of mourning poems. His preoccupation with death may be due to the fact that he had to bury numerous siblings, as well as several of his own children. The frequency with which he was forced to deal with death is probably the reason he was able to speak about it with such calm and apparently without fear.

In 1816–17 (that is, shortly after the poet’s death), Schubert set no fewer than 12 Claudius poems to music; in addition to “Death and the Maiden,” these include such titles as “Klage um Ali Bey” (“A Lament for Ali Bey”), “Am Grabe Anselmos” (“At Anselmo’s Grave”), and “Bei dem Grabe meines Vaters” (“At my Father’s Grave”). Several years later, Schubert returned to “Death and the Maiden” to compose one of his greatest chamber works, the String Quartet in D Minor, whose second movement is a set of variations on a theme derived from the song. It is hardly a coincidence that he wrote this quartet during a time when death was very much on his mind. It was in early 1824 that he suffered his first major bout of illness as a result of the syphilis he had contracted the year before. As he wrote to his friend, the painter Leopold Kupenwieser, in an often-quoted letter dating from March of that year:

Imagine a man whose health will never be right again, and whose sheer despair over this ever makes things worse and worse, instead of better; imagine a man, I say, whose most brilliant hopes have perished, to whom the felicity of love and friendship have nothing to offer but pain at best, whom enthusiasm (at least of the stimulating kind) for all things beautiful threatens to forsake, and I ask you, is he not a miserable, unhappy being?

In the two strongly contrasted stanzas of the song “Death and the Maiden,” we first hear the anguished plea of a young girl, followed by the eerie yet consoling voice of Death, assuring the girl that death is not punishment but gentle sleep. For his variation theme in the quartet, Schubert used only the austere piano introduction to the song, slightly altered. His manuscripts reveal that he had at first incorporated elements of the theme into the other movements of the quartet as well, but during the composition process he made those connections less obvious. Still, each movement has its own relentlessly repeated rhythmic pattern; moreover, each of those patterns is extremely terse and “implacable” like death itself.

The first Allegro is built upon the contrast of a dramatic opening theme and a contrasting lyrical melody. We hear many intriguing modulations and instrumental fireworks as one of Schubert’s most eventful sonata movements unfolds before our ears.

Undoubtedly, there is a potential internal conflict inherent in brilliant variations written on a tragic theme such as “Death and the Maiden.” Yet despite the virtuosic figurations present in the five variations of his second movement, Schubert maintained the dramatic tone throughout. In the third variation, for instance, the fundamental rhythmic pattern of the movement is presented at four times its original speed, changing the solemn song into a furious gallop. The fourth variation is one of those miraculous instances when Schubert can make even the major mode sound sad. The final variation begins pianissimo, works its way up to a furious fortissimo climax with rhythmic complexity reaching its highest level, only to fade back into pianissimo as the tonality unexpectedly changes back to major. The combination of the major mode with extremely soft volume creates a mysterious and transcendent effect at the end of the movement.

The third-movement scherzo has a descending bass line long associated with Baroque laments; yet the strong rhythmic accents and the frequent chromaticism (use of half-steps not normally part of the scale) give it a distinctly “modern” sound. The scherzo’s trio, or middle section, switches to the major mode. Instead of repeating each of its halves literally as expected, Schubert changes the instrumentation completely the second time around, and adds some elaborate flourishes for the first violin.

The finale is a breath-taking Presto based on the rhythm of the tarantella dance (which Schubert used in other finales as well, for instance in his Piano Sonata in C Minor, dating from the last year of his life). The “sweep” and dynamic energy of the movement never let up until the very end, which—contrary to what happens in most Slassical finales in minor keys—does not modulate to the parallel major but remains firmly anchored in the tragic minor mode.

Ignaz Schuppanzigh, the leader of the famous Schuppanzigh Quartet in Vienna, had played Schubert’s previous work in the genre, the A-Minor Quartet. Yet he declined “Death and the Maiden,” and as a result, this quartet was never performed during the composer’s lifetime.

Copyright © 2007 by The Carnegie Hall Corporation

Peter Laki writes frequently about classical music and is the
program annotator of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Takács Quartet
·· Edward Dusinberre, Violin
·· Károly Schranz, Violin
·· Geraldine Walther, Viola
·· András Fejér, Cello
Recognized as one of the world’s premiere string quartets, the Takács Quartet is renowned for the ability to fuse four distinct, expressive musical personalities into gripping, unified interpretations. Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet performs 80 concerts a year worldwide, performing throughout Europe as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Korea. The members of the quartet are Associate Artists at the South Bank Centre in London, performing several concerts there each year. The 2007–08 season highlights include four concerts at Carnegie Hall: “Everyman,” inspired by Philip Roth’s novel of that name, in which they will perform with the Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a three-concert series focusing on Haydn and Brahms. In North America, they will perform in over 30 cities, and European tours include performances in Vienna, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Frankfurt, and Brussels. In May 2008 the quartet will perform a new piece by James Macmillan, commissioned by the South Bank.

The Quartet’s multi-award winning recordings include the late quartets by Beethoven, which in 2005 won Disc of the Year and Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, a Gramophone Award, and a Japanese Record Academy Award. Their recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets collected a Grammy, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award, and two further awards from the Japanese Recording Academy.

In 2005 the Takács Quartet signed a contract with Hyperion Records; a disc featuring Brahms’ Piano Quintet with Stephen Hough will be released in November 2007. The Quartet has also made 16 recordings for the Decca label since 1988 of works by Beethoven, Bartok, Borodin, Brahms, Chausson, Dvořák, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Smetana. The ensemble’s recording of the six Bartok string quartets received the 1998 Gramophone Award for chamber music and, in 1999, was nominated for a Grammy.

The quartet is known for innovative programming. The group collaborates regularly with the Hungarian folk ensemble Muzsikas, performing a program that explores the folk sources of Bartok’s music. The Takács performed a music and poetry program on a 14-city US tour with the poet Robert Pinsky. This season they will perform the program “Everyman” with actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Upcoming commissions include works by James Macmillan, Wolfgang Rihm and Daniel Kellogg.

At the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet has helped to develop a string program with a special emphasis on chamber music. The Quartet’s commitment to teaching is enhanced by summer residencies at the Aspen Festival and at the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara. The Takács is a Visiting Quartet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.

The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai, and András Fejér, while all four were students. It first received international attention in 1977, winning first prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and first prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava Competition in 1981. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. Violinist Edward Dusinberre joined the Quartet in 1993 and violist Roger Tapping in 1995. Violist Geraldine Walther replaced Mr. Tapping in summer, 2005. Of the original ensemble, Károly Schranz and András Fejér remain. In 2001 the Takács Quartet was awarded the Order of Merit of the Knight’s Cross of the Republic of Merit.

Dramatic Readings by Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman just completed production on Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York and has three films coming out in the fall of 2007: Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, the independent feature The Savages with Laura Linney, and Mike Nichols’s Charlie Wilson’s War alongside Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. He last appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible III. Prior to that, Hoffman starred in the feature film Capote, which he executive produced through his company, Cooper’s Town Productions. In addition to winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, Hoffman earned a Golden Globe and SAG Award for his performance.

Previous film credits include HBO’s Empire Falls, Cold Mountain, Along Came Polly, The Party’s Over, Owning Mahowny, Red Dragon, Punch-Drunk Love, 25th Hour, Love Liza, Almost Famous, State and Main, Flawless, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Boogie Nights, Happiness, Patch Adams, The Big Lebowski, Twister, Scent of a Woman, and Nobody’s Fool.

Hoffman joined LAByrinth Theater Company in 1995 and became its Co-Artistic Director in 2001. As an actor, his theater credits include LAByrinth Theater Company’s Jack Goes Boating (The Public Theater), Long Day’s Journey into Night (Broadway), The Seagull (The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival), True West (Broadway), Defying Gravity (American Place Theatre), The Merchant of Venice (directed by Peter Sellars), Shopping and F*cking (New York Theatre Workshop), and The Author’s Voice (Drama Department).

His LAByrinth directing credits include the world premieres of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped the “A” Train, and In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings, each by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Hoffman also directed Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living at MCC Theater in 2001. He recently traveled to Australia to direct Andrew Upton’s play Riflemind at the famed Sydney Opera House.