#6: ‘In the background but never passive’

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

An example of #5 is the way in which Czech Quartet first violinist Karel Hoffmann seemed to be resistant to a truly ‘bravura’ disposition. Shapes, intentions and expressive gestures are projected with unusual strength, and are manifestly ‘outward’ in character; but we never had the sense that he was playing ‘at’ either his colleagues or his audience. Even more significant, in terms of ensemble, was the ability to continue contributing imaginatively, even while stepping away from the musical foreground. This can be contrasted with a passivity that gives others nothing to play ‘against’.

The capacity to ‘balance up’ as a collective – not just in terms of volume but characterisation – is one of the most keenly felt components of ensemble performance. It is quite distinct, however, from the idea of conforming to scripted textural roles. One adopts a state of committed willingness, supporting another player by offering them a vivid but subtle dose of imagination to ‘bounce off’, rather than requiring a primary voice to take on the full burden of expressive meaning. This is experienced as a finely balanced, non-verbal, irreducible interaction – something which cannot be isolated as a component of a performance. In the early stages of our experiment, we often felt that we were ‘holding back’ to let others through, because this was something the Czech Quartet do very effectively – but we struggled to retain their sense of ongoing commitment or contribution while doing so.