Ariel String Quartet Celebrates: Artist Stephen Talasnik’s Pioneer

Description

**Ariel String Quartet** The Ariel has been in residence at the New England Conservatory, Ravinia, Caramoor, Itzhak Perlman’s summer festival. Mentored by Perlman, performing with the legendary Menahem Pressler, who infused the Beaux Arts Trio with his lush authenticity, they have a glowing international reputation despite their youth, and are renowned for their energy, depth, and utter musicality. Please visit their website at [http://www.arielquartet.com/the-quartet/](http://www.arielquartet.com/the-quartet/). **Aaron Jay Kernis** Musica celestis (1990) is the descendant of the Barber Adagio. Written in mourning for the Gulf War, it vibrates with compressed life, with the midsummer stillness which art requires, and which war denies. Mr. Kernis’s work is a kaleidoscope of entertaining references, exciting to listen to, always deepened by the jungle of age-old harmony which swirls around the charming parts, as if the characters in a Monet decided to sing Piaf. Musica celestis is the second movement of Mr. Kernis’s First String Quartet. Mr. Kernis studied with John Adams, Charles Wuorinen, and Mort Subotnick. He has won Grammys, the Pulitzer, the Rome Prize. Please visit his website at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Jay_Kernis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Jay_Kernis) **John Adams** Shaker Loops (1978) This piece was originally called Wavemaker. Many of John Adams’ pieces feature repetitive Balinese gamelan ostinatos (wave-like undulations) that mesmerize the audience like a snake charmer, and minuscule changes in the pattern become major events, so we end up hearing micronotes, the way Asians do. “The ‘waves’ of Wavemaker were to be long sequences of oscillating melodic cells that created a rippling, shimmering complex of patterns like the surface of a slightly agitated pond or lake….The ‘loops’ idea was a technique from the era of tape music where small lengths of prerecorded tape attached end to end could repeat melodic or rhythmic figures ad infinitum The Shakers got into the act partly as a pun on the musical term “to shake”, meaning either to make a tremolo with the bow across the string or else to trill rapidly from one note to another.” I. Shaking and Trembling II. Hymning Slews III. Loops and Verses IV. A Final Shaking You can read an essay about the piece and find more information about John Adams at [http://www.earbox.com/shaker-loops/](http://www.earbox.com/shaker-loops/)

Program