#78: Complex internal dynamics compromised by generalisation
Section 8: Antonin Dvořák – String Quartet Op.96, iv. Vivace, ma non troppo
The final dimension of this passage concerns leader-follower dynamics. It was one thing to know explicitly that we needed to try and ‘keep the momentum’ as a group between b.179-187, and to avoid overly predictable units of phrasing. It was another to do this while also capturing the sense that the first violinist was “dragging the sound forward, rather than constantly chasing it”. This metaphor also hints at the frustration one experiences if the cart gets ahead of the horse. An open disposition was once again key to unlocking these internal dynamics: to have ‘space’ to push or pull other voices requires them to provide it. The first violin cannot ‘catch’ that linear resistance – effectively pick up the slack – if the other voices are already rushing ahead, in their efforts to keep the music going. In retrospect, this concept of between-player relationships seems to be closely related to their tactile feel for beat structure: as something always being created and destroyed, rather than given ‘from above’ (see post #71). Finding this peculiar ‘elastication’ between the parts within a broadly synchronised idiom proved very difficult to capture, and we did not feel we ‘succeeded’ in the time available.
