From our agony aunt’s mailbag:
Dear Alma,
My string quartet is not in a good place.
The founding violinist is fairly distant with the rest of us, who came in to replace her original partners over the past decade. Those three dropped out, we suspect, because the first violin has these frigid spells where she can barely say good morning without a grimace. Also, she is not the player she once was. Both cello and viola say I should be first violin but she won’t hear of letting me lead, except in really tough pieces like Ligeti which she can’t really hack any more and anyway don’t get much applause.
So what are we to do? The other two want us to go to the quartet founder and tell her flat-out that, if she does not swap with me, they and I will leave the quartet, and form a rival group. I am a bit loath to do that because (a) I know the founder has nothing else to fall back on in her life and (b) she and I once had a fling. It was brief and desperate and miserable, but I saw her at her most vulnerable and cannot be her assassin.
So tell me, Alma, what now?
Et moi, Brutus
Dear Et moi, Brutus,
I know it seems hard to believe, but a string quartet is much more than how excellent it sounds. And excellence is in the ear of the beholder. It’s subjective. A career is about building a reputation, garnering enough accolades to find an agent, the ability to be hired and rehired, designing and implementing inspiring projects, and cultivating and fostering a loyal following. If it were just the level of the players, our older, august chamber groups (and performers and conductors) would not be hired in favor of the younger, just out of college, agile set. It’s not like a sport, where the first over the finish line has a career. It’s about experience and knowledge just as much as implementation.
Among the handful of concerts which left me in tears, which flash into my subconscious when I least expect it, which filled me with gratitude, many were of performers well past their physical prime. They showed me their hearts, their struggle, their overarching knowledge of life.
It’s a great honor that you have been able to play first in Ligeti. And, please take a second to re-read your words. If the audience wanted you to change positions, the applause would show that, rather than being milk-toast. Ligeti can bring down the house.
Starting a new group or demanding a change would be like shooting yourselves in the foot. You would be seen from the outside as ungrateful snobs, and audiences and agents would avoid you like rabble rousing plague carriers. Who would want to go hear the Brutus Quartet? You didn’t audition for first violin, you auditioned for second and have a special, unique opportunity to play Ligeti on first. She gave you this opportunity and you should be grateful. If you want to be first violin, audition for another group.
Every quartet becomes a complex entanglement. My suggestion, open a dialogue with your peers with a monthly business meeting. Go in soft, though, not bringing up the subject you did in your letter. You should discuss your two, five, and ten year goals. And you should be in regular talks with your agent as well. Hopefully the mistrust and bitterness that have built up over the years can be softened and the four of you can design a way forward together or apart. And your questions above will naturally be addressed as you discuss a ten year plan.
Take a big step back and take a bigger breath. Whatever crisis you feel you are in can wait. Et moi, be your best person, and you will sleep better at night and be able to hold your head up high.
Questions for Alma? Please put them in the comments section or send to DearAlmaQuery@gmail.com
The post Dear Alma, Should I break up my string quartet? appeared first on Slippedisc.
