Daniel Bernard Roumain - Quartet No. 5 "Rosa Parks"

Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) -

Quartet No. 5 "Rosa Parks"

Daniel Bernard Roumain's fifth string quartet, "Rosa Parks", was a pleasant surprise to hear on QuartetES's program. The three movement work never lost energy throughout the performance due to the quartet's impeccable chamber playing and Roumain's masterful application of formal structure. I honestly felt that the first movement "I made up my mind not to move" truly lives up to its name. While listening, I kept expected to lose interest due to the repetitiveness of the active rhythms and seemingly simple descending ground bassline. However, Roumain's slow development to the musical material may not literally move, but it did certainly move the audience. "I made up my mind not to move" could literally be added into the middle of a DJ's house playlist, and no one at the party would bat an eye, and if anything they would jam harder. The mathematical changes propel the music forward, and also align well with the second movement, Isorhythmiclationistic.

Jenn Kloetzel opened the second movement with a beautiful hymn-like cello solo, at which I am pretty sure was the first time I felt that I was able to take a breath since the music started. Roumain continues his expert usage of isorhythm to create incredibly accented dissonances, which never sound out of place. The music continues to expand until it opens up into a brilliant, held major chord in the upper range of the strings.

The third movement, Klap Ur Handz, takes its title very literally, as in the previous movements, and begins with the violist clapping a steady beat. Unfortunately, this opening was not as convincing to me as a listener than the earlier movements. It was supposed to be a hip offbeat clap on 2 and 4, but never felt correct once the strings started to layer in, and it took a while for the groove to make sense. One the music got going, the combination of playing and passing clapping parts across the ensemble worked stupendously, and ended up sounding like the perfect combination of gospel and bluegrass, expertly performed in a classical music setting.


© 2021 Brutal New Music Reviews
originally written and published 10 Sept. 2021

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