Bartok Assistance Needed
I am writing a fic in which I have Sherlock taking part in the performance of the Bartok quartets over a series of evenings. I am doing my homework with listening guides - Carnegie Hall etc. - but am curious if there are any musicians reading this who would be willing to help me brainstorm as I am trying to translate this powerful music to the
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If you would be willing to give my prose a once-over (once I've produced some) you can most certainly help.
The original premise of my story was born of the idea that the Holmes family acts out Shakespeare's plays over the Holidays. It has now morphed into a story which contains a thread telling the tale of a post-reunion Sherlock feeling around and trying to find 'home' again.
The scenario as it stands is that a large number of the extended Holmes family gather in a country house for a fortnight over the Christmas Holiday. They play cricket, form shooting parties, tutor the children in painting, take them on nature walks and assemble scrapbooks, give recitations, perform Shakespeare, play charades, insert other insane things here - and there is chamber music on offer some evenings.
Sherlock, presented with the correct elements, latches onto the idea of rehearsing and performing Bartok's quartets. This is where all sorts of things just start swimming in my head. What emotion is the music conveying when? What exactly is Sherlock using the music to say and work out in his own mind?
I'm planning on using the fact that John isn't a musician to conveniently hide the fact that I am clueless. He's watching his friend play these pieces and he is clearly emotional about it, which isn't normal for him. He wants to help if he can, offer little supportive gestures if that's all he can do for him - I want to convey a dance among them - Sherlock, the music, and John - and talk about friendship.
So, given all that TMI, if you could give me a 'The Quartets for Musical Dummies' that would be helpful, as well as looking over the story once I've actually written something. To be clear, I've begun the story itself but haven't yet written any of the musical bits. Also - is there a particular recorded version that would be 'best' to invest in?
If you're curious, I latched onto these particular pieces because of Teller's brilliant notion here http://www.pennandteller.com/03/coolstuff/tellerspeaks/telleressaybartok1.html
Belatedly, thank you so very much for your very generous offer, and feel free to consign me to - much too high maintenance, thanks but no thanks!
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Next question: A string quartet consists of two violins, a viola, and a cello. I assume Sherlock is playing one of the violins. Is he Violin 1 ("soprano" part, also traditionally the leader of the quartet), or Violin 2 ("alto" part, able to work a little bit more "in the shadows.") The traditional stage arrangement for a string quartet is in a half-circle, with the parts arranged, from the audience's left to the audience's right: Violin 1, Violin 2, Cello, Viola. Sometimes, the cello and the viola will be switched.
Who's playing the other instruments? Why are they doing this? Do they like Bartók? Do they like Sherlock? Bartók's quartets are difficult music -- how long have they had to rehearse a) alone, b) together? Is this the kind of music that Sherlock plays on a regular basis? How about the other three?
Are they going to do all six quartets? Or just one or two? If so, which ones do you think best convey the mood of the scene?
Some basic stuff about Bartók: He had this weird multiple-role thing going on for much of his life. He wanted to be a modern European; he wanted to express something deeply Hungarian. He lived through the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire. He wrote primarily instrumental music; he recorded and analyzed primarily vocal music. He was grandiose and wrote extensively about this "school" of musical thought that had to do with expressions of nationalism in music; this "school" consisted of himself and his pal Zoltán Kodály. He listed standards for writing nationalist music that are almost impossible to live up to, because they are at once overly specific and overly vague. And then he tried to write music that lived up to those standards (can't fault a man for trying).
One thing that he did end up doing relatively consistently was writing music that reflected Hungarian rhythms. Not just dance music, although he wrote an awful lot of that. He got right down into the Hungarian language. Hungarian isn't an Indo-European language (it's the "Ugric" half of the Finno-Ugric language group), and it has a rhythm all its own. A lot of Hungarian words have the stress on the first syllable: DUN-dun. BAR-tók. BÉ-la. You see that kind of stress pattern all over Bartók's work, especially when he's trying to be nationalist.
As for versions of the quartets -- pick one that you like to listen to. I don't think you're going to find anything particularly awful out there. That just comes down to individual taste.
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I read music to the extent that I played the cornet in the band in junior high - so, yes, but on a very simplistic level. The Theme to Jurassic Park level.
The other characters he is playing with can be made up and given back stories to fit the story and/or the music. I would say for ease of storytelling that all four players are proficient with this sort of music and familiar with these pieces. At least Sherlock and two others will have played together casually in this same setting in the past - perhaps one character is new to the group, and finding all the elements in place for a quartet is what makes Sherlock think to get the plan rolling - in which case he would likely be the 1st Violin. Or - two of the other musicians could conceivably have been working on this in a different setting - perhaps they play professionally - they recruit Sherlock and a fourth - Sherlock takes the part of 2nd violin in this scenario - I was intrigued by your phrasing of the 2nd Violin being able to work in the shadows. Again, this can all be tweaked - these are just the thoughts popping into my head based on your questions. At least one of them will be passionate about Bartók, allowing me to give him a little love during the course of the story.
They'll definitely play multiple pieces, but I'm thinking I don't have enough rehearsal time to give them to allow all six. I was going to say - artistic license - and have them do them all, but I don't want to trivialize the difficulty of the music. I'm not sure which of the quartets they'll ultimately perform - I'm not yet entirely familiar with everything which is going on in Sherlock's head during this story, and that will have bearing on this decision.
Rehearsal time with these four musicians playing together - I would imagine they play together each morning for a period of two weeks, the performances being given in the evening. If I have them play three pieces total they would have a solid week and a half of morning rehearsals before playing to an audience.
Oh, lord, the being nationalistic theme screams out for me to make Mycroft one of the other musicians - but I think I'll just give him and Sherlock multiple, sniping exchanges about it.
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Hey, I'm a graduate student. My standards for "completely crazy" are much higher than a civilian's.
Sounds like you've got a solid plan going there. When you need more, PM me or something, and we can chat a bit.
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I'm loving this! He wandered the countryside with pack animals in order to get villages to sing into his phonograph! This is wonderful.
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At the conference, someone asked me if ethnomusicologists still work that way. That would be a no. I travel the countryside in an airplane, getting professional musicians to talk into my digital voice recorder. ;)
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