Department of Music

• Sunday, February 27, 2011
• Old Cabell Hall
• 3:30 p.m.
• $20 Adults / $10 Students / Free for UVa students (if reserved in advance)

The University of Virginia’s Chamber Music Series will present its third concert of the 2010-2011 Season:  The Art of Music on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 3:30pm in Old Cabell Hall on University Grounds.  Featuring the Rivanna String Quartet of the McIntire Department of Music performing the music of Burtner, Debussy, and Britten, the concert will examine the elements of art: texture and line.

The Rivanna String Quartet’s appearance offers a youthful, vibrant ensemble, which has established the intimate relationship necessary to exploit the remarkable ability of composers and to emotionally charge music. Comprised of the string principals of the Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestra and UVA faculty, the Rivanna Quartet features the extraordinary talents of violinists David Colwell and David Sariti, violist Ayn Balija and cellist Adam Carter. 

Adding a textural vibrancy and energy to the concert will be the music of UVA’s Associate Professor of composition and computer technologies, Matthew Burtner, where he also directs the Interactactive Media Research Group (IMRG) and is the Associate Director of the VCCM.  Burtner describes his composition for the string quartet: “Somata/Asomata (2002) for electric string quartet and computer-generated sound deals with notions of embodiment and disembodiment, questioning the musical perception of physical and non-physical reality. This is accomplished in the musical context through the use of electric and computer-generated instruments.”

A little more than a century prior, Claude Debussy sculpted the String Quartet in G minor, Op.10, a four movement masterpiece filled with impressionistic texture created by the alternating pizzicato and bowed sections which discretely imply a line of music.  A connoisseur of the arts, Debussy also incorporates the Impressionists’ artistic techniques by manipulating the tonal lines and cleverly adding textural interest through rhythmic variation.  Composing only one string quartet, Debussy received little monetary recompense or critical acclaim for a work which is a decisive example of the impressionist string quartet genre.

As Debussy, Benjamin Britten collaborated and incorporated the works and techniques of artists, poets and musicians into his music.  The four movement String Quartet No. 2 in C, Op.36 creates textural interest in the first movement as the opening theme layers over the allegro of the recapitulation. Developing tension mounts in the final movement, a theme in twenty-one variations connected by cadenzas for cello, viola and first violin, aligning with the anxiety shaped by an artist’s manipulation of lines.

Anticipate an artfully crafted concert performed by the Rivanna String Quartet on Sunday, February 287, 2011 at 3:30pm in Old Cabell Hall on University Grounds.  A reception will immediately follow the concert providing an opportunity for audience members to meet and discuss the concert with the performers.  Free parking on Grounds is available during the weekends.  There is a fee to park at the Central Ground Garage.

Tickets are $20 for general admission, $10 for students with a valid ID and those under 18 are free.  UVA students can reserve free tickets in advance.   To purchase tickets call the Arts Box Office at (434) 924-3376.  For more information, visit artsboxoffice.virginia.edu.