An Early Start for New Friction Quartet Season

I suspect that those following this site for some time are now familiar with the Friction Quartet. The group was formed in 2011 by violinist Kevin Rogers and cellist Doug Machiz when they were students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, meaning that it will begin its fourteenth season towards the end of this month (getting the jump on Labor Day). The two founders are now joined by violinist Otis Harriel and violist Mitso Floor. They have never been shy about taking on recently composed (including commissioned) works; but, by the same count, their repertoire continues to acknowledge Joseph Haydn, regarded by many as the “father of the string quartet as we now know it!” All performances in the coming season in San Francisco will take place at the Noe Valley Ministry, which is located at 1021 Sanchez Street. Dates and times are as follows:

October 19, 4 p.m., Giant Tiny Steps: The season will begin with a program consisting entirely of works composed in the last decade. The composer most likely to be familiar to readers is Samuel Carl Adams, whose third string quartet will receive its United States premiere. The Just Intonation Etudes by Juri Seo experiment with chords that will induce reverberations of additional pitches. The quartet will revisit the electroacoustic pieces by Taylor Rankin, which they recorded for his film Snow Leopard. Finally, they will be joined by bassoonist Jamael Smith for a world premiere arrangement of Marcelo Nisinman’s “Rui’s Tango.”

April 17, 7:30 p.m., Inspiration: The earliest work on the program will be Leoš Janáček's first string quartet, which was given the subtitle “Kreutzer Sonata.” This was not inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 47 sonata for piano and violin (Beethoven’s choice of order), which was dedicated to the violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer. Rather, the title is taken from the 1889 novella by Leo Tolstoy, which was, in turn, inspired by Beethoven’s music. A similar reflection will be found in Loren Loiacono’s “Besides,” which drew upon the only surviving song by a twelfth-century female troubadour. The other works on the program will be “Cathedrals of Light” by Juhi Bansal and Isaac Schankler’s “Unveiling,” which was composed for Friction.

Thomas Hardy’s 1791 portrait of Joseph Haydn (from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

June 5, 7:30 p.m., Transformation: This was conceived to be a program of surprises. As might be expected, it will conclude with a Haydn string quartet, even if that concept is more often associated with one of his symphonies. The quartet to be performed is the sixth (and last) quartet in his Opus 76 collection, which was dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdődy. This quartet was composed in E-flat major. The most recent work on the program will be Julia Wolfe’s “Blue Dress,” a transmogrification of Appalachian fiddle music. The other composer on the program will be György Ligeti with the performance of his first string quartet, given the title “Métamorphoses nocturnes.”