I first heard of the seminal string quartet Brooklyn Rider on NPR’s All Things Considered. If my memory serves me correctly, it was around 2010.
What caught my attention was the connection between Brooklyn Rider and Indie music, following a performance at Austin, Texas’ South by Southwest festival. But unlike other crossover string quartets, Brooklyn Rider wasn’t playing pop songs arranged for strings, but art music geared toward a larger audience.
A year later, I picked up Rider’s CD Brooklyn Rider Plays Philip Glass. I was hooked. I’ve followed their career since.
Fast forward fifteen years, and the quartet is still at it, playing engaging music with the intent of getting the music to as many ears as possible. In addition to their unique repertoire and tonal architecture, I appreciate how Brooklyn Rider collaborates with many musicians outside of the classical mainstream, from Béla Fleck (banjo) and Joshua Redman (saxophone) to Martin Hayes (Irish fiddle).
As part of Santa Fe Pro Musica’s programming, Brooklyn Rider’s performance in New Mexico followed a similar collaborative trajectory, “part of the celebration…of our 20th anniversary as Brooklyn Ryder, inspired by our namesake, Blue Rider,” Colin Jacobsen tells us before the performance.
Not only did they perform marvelous music—Schonenberg’s Quartet No. 2 in F# Minor, Colin Jacobsen’s Chalk and Soot, and selections from their album Almanac Book II— but they partnered with American soprano, Ariadne Greif.
Promotion photo
It was a magical pairing. Greif’s voice is illuminating, and the quartet performance inspired.
Consisting of Johnny Gandelsman, violin, Colin Jacobsen, violin, Nicholas Cords, viola, and Michael Nicolas, cello, the playing was exquisite, offering a robust and thoughtful interpretation of the compositions.
I was especially impressed by Jacobsen’s Chalk and Soot, a song cycle based on the poetry of Russian abstract artist, Wassily Kandinsky. Published in 1913, Kandinsky’s book, Klänge (Sounds), consisted of thirty-eight prose-poems and fifty-six woodcuts, all created by Kandinsky. According to MOMA.org, the publication was “influential on other avant-garde artists, and Futurists in Russia and Dadaists in Zurich recited and published some of the poems.”
Brooklyn Rider with Ariadne Greif. Photo by Brian C. Nixon
Jacobsen’s Chalk and Soot was whimsical at times, tonally expressive at other times, and pure fun the entire time. With a deep respect for the playing and personalities, I listened to the performances with great pleasure. It was a kinetic presentation (the quartet singing, clapping, stomping, and other such extended techniques). It was a dance between voice and a unique musical vision. For the audience at the Lensic Performing Arts Center the concert translated to a tantalizing and transformative afternoon, reflective of the brilliance Brooklyn Rider offers the musical landscape, paving new ground, and designing stunning aural scenes.
To learn more about Santa Fe Pro Musica’s future musical offerings, click here: https://sfpromusica.org.
Brian C. Nixon, Ph.D., is Chief Academic Officer and professor at Veritas International University in Albuquerque. As a writer, musician, and artist, his interests surround the philosophical transcendentals: truth, beauty, and goodness. You can contact Brian via his Bandcamp email address: https://briancharlesnixon.bandcamp.com
