Wednesday, November 12, 2014

String Theory

Tonight Liz and I were invited to a concert by Camerata Bern, the Swiss string ensemble. An accessible beginning & end of Mozart & Beethoven sandwiched a more challenging filling of Britten & Zimmerlin (the latter a composer who's actually still alive), and the venue was lovely - the roof-garden of the Castillo de Chapultepec (see here). 
I'd had a hard day so it was nice just to vegetate and let the music wash over me. They play standing up so are a bit more energetic than most, but still I find it hard to focus on the sound of strings. I'm not sure what the collective noun is (a vile?), but there's something about the violin's thin tone which I just don't find engaging, even when bolstered by cello & double bass, even the sound of 50 of them in a symphony orchestra. It still sounds thin. Philistine.

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