LDV17

Unlike Beethoven, Schumann doesn’t indicate precise bowings, but writes broad phrase marks that resemble long breaths. How do you go about performing these markings in a coordinated fashion? Four personalities, one entity . . . Our disc proposes a very personal discourse. It’s the moment of musical liberation, but you have to knowhow to handle that freedom! This is very rubatomusic, which has a powerful, extremely Germanic Romanticismas its point of reference. Beyond the actual notes, there’s a huge amount of interpretative work to be done, and we have to ensure all four of us are in agreement! Despite our four hours of rehearsal every day, it’s still necessary for us to have an instinctive vision of Schumann’s music. After a first version of the work, we listen to ourselves, and then we embark on long discussions. In general, we more or less agree about the elements that need to be improved or retained, and everything comes right quite naturally. The advice of the members of the Artemis and Ysaÿe quartets is also invaluable to us. Aside from that, we listen to a lot of other works by Schumann, especially those from the same period as the quartets, in order to steep ourselves in the profundity and expression of his music in general. 20 SCHUMANN_THE 3 STRING QUARTETS OP.41