Hyderabad might be drenched in the rains, but the music of the drops percolated at the ITC Hotel – the Kakatiya last week. If the water wove itself into meandering streams, the sound of the ripples became a song. The Galatea String Quartet was invited by the Embassy of Switzerland, New Delhi, as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Indo-Swiss Friendship Treaty. The Swiss musicians are on a tour across India and chose the Andhra Pradesh capital for its longest gig. The quartet offset the contemporary with the classic genius of Beethoven's Quartet # 132.
The serenade began with a fairly recent (19th century) chirpy melody. It was an operatic piece adapted by the quartet. With a distinct feel of the Swiss meadows, the folk flavour was like landscape poetry in literature. They used a modern dramatic narrative for the modern pieces. Breaking conventions, the show started with a slow movement instead of a sonata or an allegro. Completely giving the minuet and trio a miss, the sonata-rondo saw the end of the 35 minutes before the break. Beethoven pervaded the 45 minute second half.
Julien Kilchenmann, on the violoncello, announced gleefully, “Ludvig van Beetho did us all a great favour. He has composed 15 string quartets!” their longest Beethoven quartet, Galatea played the final allegro for a whopping 18 minutes. It began with Sarah Kilchenmann's power-packed violin in melancholy low notes. They ascended occasionally to attain a steady high pitched disdain for all things morose. Yuka Tsuboi’s high scaled violin adopted a more optimistic tone. The harmony (in notes on parallel scales) intensifies the wisdom of age with sudden turns of monotone high notes. David Schneebeli dealt with the undulating fast paced notes with smooth strokes on his viola. The final movement was constantly punctuated this way. But the high point of the concert was Julien Kilchenmann's violoncello. Cluttered melodies with dramatic pauses marked his rendition.
On the whole, the quartet established a divide between the lay listener and the trained ear, at the same time united the classicists with the modernists. Instead of innovating, the group remained true to the original Beethoven composition. The low-to-high and minimal-to-symphonic affectations came effortlessly.
For four individuals who have been together for two years now, their music reflects solidarity and puts the listener at ease. On the other hand, the coordination and conversation between the instruments is incredible for so young a venture. The foursome played in tandem in their own bubbles – as if telepathy and dancing shoulders were pulling off the maneuvres.
The concert ended with a short piece in Rabindra Sangeet. Calling it an emotional genre, Julien feels, “it speaks for itself. We had to take lessons to be able to produce the effect.” Pranab Ray, a trained Rabindra Sangeet guitarist applauded their effort – “They captured the essence to quite an extent. They brought me to tears.”
“Music is a universal language that binds all cultures, in hosting this recital, we’re making our little contribution,” said Kuldeep Bhartee, general manager, ITC Kakatiya. The quartet regularly performs in Switzerland, and Japan, Austria, France, Germany and Albania among countries abroad. Having played in the classical style all their lives, when asked if they’d be open to a more popular mode, the pair each of the men and women chorused, “it is too late now!” Julien commented, “It is difficult to render popular tunes with our kind of instruments.” But the group is very open to experiments, and, says Sarah, “open to fusion for projects. We have also performed as a quintet with an additional international musician in Japan.”
Galatea, the sculpture made by Pygmalion, was enlivened by Aphrodite. The quintet has much the same effect on the audience. With a string of awards and concerts behind, the Galatea string quartet affirms the potential it intends to explore in the years to come. Of course, with this enthralling recital, it has left us fonder of a country we all dream of.
