#2: Reading notation

Section 1: Josef Suk – Meditation on an Old Czech Hymn ‘St Wenceslas’ Op.35a

We felt that the Czech Quartet habitually treated expression markings as invitations: as though they were investing such moments with ‘more’ of whatever shape or gesture might already have been imagined in response to the notes, and especially their intervallic relationships. This is a disposition that sees surrounding context as fundamental, not additional; and as fluid, not static.

This is well illustrated by the ‘>’ marking, which is often regarded as a form of expressive encouragement (even by many modern musicians). We had a strong impression that these performers understood how far the specificity of that meaning was left in the hands of the player. Indeed what they do on these occasions is so varied that the marking seems to have been inseparable from their understanding of the musical surroundings, which conspicuously included the emotional states of colleagues and their embodied musical characterisation. This is far from an abstract or even symbolic concept: instead, it is always dynamic, entwined with whatever has occurred in the previous moment.