Spring Sprouts: Carrot Meets Ravel

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SARAH S SONG full profile / string quartet / 4 musicians

Other players: Cindy Lan, Chloe Kim, Ariana Cappon

Full program notes

Carrot Revolution (2018) Gabriella Smith

From the composer: "While walking around the Barnes, looking for inspiration for this string quartet, I suddenly remembered a Cézanne quote I’d heard years ago (though which I later learned was misattributed to him): “The day will come when a single, freshly observed carrot will start a revolution.” And I knew immediately that my piece would be called Carrot Revolution. I envisioned the piece as a celebration of that spirit of fresh observation and of new ways of looking at old things, such as the string quartet – a 250-year-old genre – as well as some of my even older musical influences (Bach, Perotin, Gregorian chant, Georgian folk songs, and Celtic fiddle tunes). The piece is a patchwork of my wildly contrasting influences and full of weird, unexpected juxtapositions and intersecting planes of sound, inspired by the way Barnes’ ensembles show old works in new contexts and draw connections between things we don’t think of as being related."

Ravel String Quartet:
In 1903, the 28-year-old Ravel was completing his studies at the Paris Conservatory. By this time he had been studying there for half of his life, and had entered the much-desired Grand Prix de Rome competition several times, though never receiving higher than second place. This first and only string quartet again failed to win him the prestigious award. However, the Quartet in F major is an early demonstration of Ravel’s brilliant juxtaposition of formality and sensuality, and his incredible use of tone color. At times it sounds like a much fuller string section than four instruments. (La Phil)

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