Ghosts in the Machine
Spektral Quartet is one of the many, many excellent string quartets on the contemporary scene (the 21st century has, so far, been the era of the string quartet in classical music, every new, young quartet that comes along seems to be already playing at the highest level, which I have to think is a tribute to what conservatory training is like nowadays, at least for string players). Everybody plays well and has a repertoire that stretches from the 18th to the 21st century—something that used to be novel is now commonplace, which is a good thing for the music but can make it hard to mark one group, or performance or recording, as compelling vis-a-vis the others.
Spektral presents itself in a way that does separate the group from the crowd. There is the willingness to go deep into the literature—they’re one of the few groups to actually sit down and perform Morton Feldman’s String Quartet No. 2—and also an attitude that balances seriousness and personality. They are trying to get beyond the album/program format, an idea that in normal circumstances would be quirky but that now, when we are stuck in the album format, is a relief from the creeping monotony of the listening experience. At the end of the summer, they put out Experiments in Living, a digital double-album (over two hours) that has two salient features. One is the adept, passionate playing that encompasses Brahms’ String Quartet No. 1, Ruth Crawford Seeger’s String Quartet (one of the great works in the literature), Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 3, and new pieces; The Real Book of Fake Tunes, written by Anthony Cheung and with Claire Chase added on flute, Charmaine Lee’s Spinals, with Lee performing with her voice and using electronics, Sam Pluta’s binary/momentary logics: flow state/joy state, and the title piece, courtesy of George Lewis.
Yes, you say, great old and new music, superb! But what’s so different about this? Since this is a digital release, the quartet set up a Tarot-deck based randomizer (they call it a choose-your-own-adventure thing) where you can pick cards, or generate a random draw, and shuffle the tracks of the album (it’s here, you need to enter an email address and your name but don’t need to opt-in to any marketing list).
In the scheme of things, which here means my own experiences in and knowledge of music, this is cute and not much of a thing. If you download the album, or play it through a streaming service, you can shuffle tracks. It’s a make-your-own-playlist that millions of people do all the time. But in the world of classical music, this is something of a step into the unknown. I’m agnostic on whether or not it’s a useful step, but any and every question toward the hidebound, bourgeois protocols and ceremonies of the recording and performing format is worthwhile, because the need is acute.
And, to give Spektral credit, they’ve got something going on today, Friday, October 9, that looks exciting. The group has been working with Anna Thorvaldsdottir (the most important contemporary composer) on a work she made for them, Enigma (with video artist Sigurdur Gudjonsson). The pandemic cancelled the premiere and tour, but Spektral is going to record the music, and that starts off with them getting together to rehearse it again. And you can be there! A, if you will, fly-in-the-hair experience.
This is a happening over the intertubes, of course, 4-5:30pm EST. Go to this page to RSVP. I think this kind of thing has long legs. Don’t give me rebranded shuffle, let me see how this stuff is made, let me see how you get from that first note on the page to the finished performance. Rehearsals, well run, are more fascinating than performances, and I really think that’s true for the vast non-classical music public as well. Rehearsing through a piece of composed music is a resource, and a deep one, classical music has at its disposal, and no other music has this. Use it, people.