The Telegraph Quartet delivered a beautiful performance at the Grant Recital Hall Monday night, playing with measured passion and undeniable control. It was a colorful, yet erratic experience that left the audience slightly disoriented but appreciative of the composers’ technical mastery.
All five pieces performed by the widely acclaimed quartet were composed by Brown PhD candidates pursuing doctoral degrees in Music and Multimedia Composition, according to the event program. Their unique styles resulted in a compelling concert that bordered on experimental.
The quartet — consisting of Joseph Maile and Erin Chin on the violin, Pei-Ling Lin on the viola and Jeremiah Shaw on the cello — is currently in its 11th season since forming in 2013.
The show opened with “Last Frost,” a piece composed by Inga Chinilina GS that is dedicated to a time before climate change. The Telegraph Quartet played it tastefully. The piece threw the audience into a hauntingly whimsical beginning, as the ensemble skillfully drew their bows across the strings to mimic the ebbs and flows of a winter wind.
“Weaving Lace from Frost,” another winter-themed piece composed by Adeliia Faizullina GS, followed directly after. The melodies felt like the ghostly breezes of wind through a light snowfall. But the piece crescendoed quickly with the musicians’ furious bow strokes, then ended abruptly.
The piece was inspired by the season and memories of her grandmother. It featured substantial dissonance that demonstrated complex technical skill but, to the common ear, bordered on out-of-tune. Nonetheless, the piece was very emotive, made distinct by its aggressive articulation.
The quartet then played “these impermanent traces,” composed by Sofía Rocha GS. With long sections of plucking and rests, the music was graceful — almost childlike. But further in, it transformed into something more saddening and tragic, creating wiry and muted shrills. At times, it almost sounded like the muffled voices of children.
The performers then moved into “bones, false currents” by Isaac Barzso GS. Introduced as a “very quiet piece,” the quartet played each note softly. If not careful, the audience could miss an entire third of the composition. Floating into a higher register for the majority of the piece, the work lacked a distinct melody to latch onto.
As the composition progressed, some audience members appeared to grow detached. But they were then brought back with a few plucks — just for the piece to fall back to near silence again. It was quiet enough to hear the exhale of the man sitting two seats away.
“Concordance,” composed by Nick Bentz GS, was the final piece of the show and a notable way to conclude the concert. The most traditional piece of the night, it was melodic and energetic enough to evoke a stomp from Chin, whose leg struck the floor forcefully upon his final stroke. Upon the composition’s end, the audience applauded fervently.
