A string quartet album transcends being only a choice from the ensemble’s repertoire; it turns into a canvas that displays the artists’ imaginative and prescient of what’s attainable inside this age-old format. With the wealthy number of modern string quartet compositions obtainable right now, ensembles are introduced with an abundance of choices. Within the liner notes of their newest launch, Mivos Quartet violist Victor Lowrie Tafoya likens an album to an artwork gallery: each piece should not solely stand by itself but in addition harmonize with the others on show. Collectively, these works ought to convey a message that surpasses what any single piece might categorical.
The Mivos Quartet brilliantly fulfills this idea with their fascinating performances of 4 newly commissioned world premieres on Might Our Facilities Maintain (Sideband, 2025). Since 2008, Mivos Quartet, consisting of Olivia De Prato and Maya Bennardo (violins), Victor Lowrie Tafoya (viola), and Nathan Watts (cello), has been a vanguard of contemporary string quartet repertoire. Composers George Lewis, Michaela Catranis, Jeffrey Mumford, and Ambrose Akinmusire have every contributed their distinct voices, portray a vivid image of what new music for string quartet can embody.
If we consider the album as an artwork gallery, then George Lewis’ String Quartet 2.5: Enjoying with Seeds stands out because the expressionist piece. This work is crammed with temper and drama, punctuated by moments of uncooked depth from the decrease strings. Impressed by anthropologist Paul Richards’ analysis into rice cultivation in Sierra Leone, Lewis frames the agricultural course of as a type of improvisation—a ability that, very like music, necessitates profound understanding, apply, and flexibility. Not like farming, nevertheless, the dangers related to a less-than-bountiful sonic harvest aren’t as dire. The low strings articulate this precariousness in Quartet 2.5, executing guttural sul ponticello methods that evoke a life-or-death pressure inherent within the quest for brand spanking new progress.
Michaela Catranis’ luminous animal conjures photographs of sunshine and impressionistic strokes, characterised by lengthy tones adorned with shifting glissandi. The excessive string harmonics evoke the nocturnal scenes of Degas and Pissarro, successfully capturing the “luminous” side of the title with a timbre paying homage to flutes. The Mivos Quartet’s delicate strategy permits these harmonics to shimmer, sustaining tone and pitch with out faltering.
Catranis fosters distinction by way of heat, decrease tones from the cello and viola, likened to the inviting glow of a gasoline lamp, a energetic café, or a comfy residence. Drawn from bioluminescent organisms, Tony Moffeit’s 1989 poem of the identical title, and a want for introspection, her piece unfolds uniquely with every listening. Mivos’s tender but steadfast rendition deepens its evocative qualities, unveiling intricate timbres that come alive in every efficiency.
Jeffrey Mumford’s amid nonetheless and floating depths, co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliation and the Library of Congress, might counsel impressionism, but I understand it extra within the vein of an impasto portray. Its thick layers of sound echo numerous textures, all distinct even in juxtaposition. Sparse and lyrical motifs are interspersed with sudden, loud passages or intricate technical calls for, gliding effortlessly among the many ensemble like actors in a well-rehearsed play. These contrasts mirror motion in visible arts, akin to Shiraga’s Untitled or Van Gogh’s Starry Night time, the place the absence of gradual transitions enhances the readability of every voice.
Ambrose Akinmusire’s title monitor, Might Our Facilities Maintain, feels essentially the most alive—straddling the road between portray and sculpture—infused with wealthy textures that encourage the cello and viola to discover each in approach and quantity. This piece displays on the resilience of parts that endure strain when floor particulars fade away. Initially, I considered W.B. Yeats’ The Second Coming, however Akinmusire gives a way more hopeful perspective. It’s uncommon for modern music to evoke hope, but this composition achieves that quietly. Because the piece progresses, surging strains and tough textures dissolve into smoother, extended gestures, finally culminating in a single, resonant tone.
The Mivos Quartet notes that the commissioned composers are all “colleagues, pals, mentors, and fellow vacationers in our shared musical journeys,” and collectively, their items create a compelling gallery that appears forward with ambition and hope. Their deep sensitivity to every composer’s intentions—paired with their readiness to embrace experimental and unconventional sounds—ends in articulate, dynamic, and technically astute performances. Might Our Facilities Maintain is a profound reflection of the aesthetic variety inherent within the string quartet format and encapsulates the ensemble’s optimistic imaginative and prescient for its future. The horizon they understand is undoubtedly brilliant.
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