Expanding the Canon and Inspiring Youth
Fearless: Eureka at the Boston Public Library
Mattapan, February 20, 2019 | By: Andrew Stauffer, Eureka Ensemble
This past Wednesday was the Eureka Ensemble’s fifth of six performances for Fearless, a concert series held at various Boston Public Library branches that aims to introduce Boston youth to classical music. The day’s program, which was held at the Mattapan branch of the BPL, was led by the enthusiastic Andrés Ballesteros. He, with the help of the musicians, took young listeners through the history of the string quartet, while also introducing them to rhythm, musical dynamics, and active listening, which proved to be an enriching morning of musical exploration and community connection.
The string quartet, made up of Juliette Greer (violin),
Leonardo Jaffe Misiuk Barbosa (violin), Sebastian Ortega (cello), and Allyson Stibbards (viola), began with a Haydn piece, “Op. 20, №2(Mvt I)”.
As Haydn was the inventor of the string quartet, this was an apt place to begin; and it was impeccably executed by the performers. But what did the children think?
“It sounded like a Looney Tunes cartoon!” said one enthusiastic listener, while another described the piece, similarly, as “cartoony”. Although a classical music connoisseur may find such an assessment of Haydn alarming, one need only understand that this speaks to the value of cartoons as an avenue for the exploration of classical music. Indeed, many people, myself included, were first exposed to classical music through cartoons such as The Tom and Jerry Show and Fantasia. All of this to say, coming from a child who connects what he is hearing at a concert to his experience in the world, “cartoony” ought to be considered a word of praise; and judging by the applause at the end of the piece, one must take it to be so.
Next in the program was the first two movements Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E♭Major. Living roughly 80 years after Haydn, she was exceedingly prolific, composing nearly 500 pieces during her lifetime.
Receiving some insight into the life of Fanny, listeners learned that in order to get a work performed she once had to publish it under the name of her younger brother, Felix. Members of the quartet explained that Felix was slightly more well-known, owing much to the fact that because he was a man, he could get his music published much more easily than his older sister. The young audience was encouraged to observe how the work was “inwardly passionate” and quite different than the piece they had just heard by Haydn. Although she took the prominent chamber ensemble created by Haydn, she wrote works that expressed a profound intensity not paralleled by many. An especially creative artist, Mendelssohn explored the possibilities of the string quartet in her own unique way.
The listeners agreed, describing the work as sounding “more realistic” than Haydn and “like Halloween,” the movie — yet another reference to film as a medium for understanding classical music. There was certainly depth to the work that was not present in Haydn’s, a depth that the musically-inclined youth were able to pick up on and appreciate with ease. The children’s musical sensibilities were engaged further during a demonstration of the tonal range of each of the instruments. This led to a “eureka!” moment when the children were able to hear the difference between the violin and viola, which otherwise look awfully similar.
Fast forward in time another 100 years or so and we come to yet another exceedingly talented composer who was nearly lost to history. Andrés told the story of how, in 1930, the Chicago Symphony held an anonymous composing competition, the winners of which would have their works performed by the symphony itself. Incredibly enough, both first place and the honorable mention (essentially 3rd place) went to the same person: Florence Price. An exceptionally gifted composer whose being both a woman and African American were major hurdles for her in the classical music world, Price studied at Boston’s own New England Conservatory and made a name for herself in the music world.
Price’s work, Five Folksongs in Counterpoint Mvt. 2, was cleverly introduced in reference to the modern technique of sampling in pop music. The youth in the audience were familiar with the concept, where a rhythm or melody, for example, is cut from a song and used in another. This, Andrés noted, is precisely what Price liked to do with her music, as she would infuse her works with melodies from well-known spirituals and children’s songs, reusing them in her own way. In this way, the children were able to learn how Price integrated African American influences with the Western classical tradition to create distinctive works that speak to her experience.
In performing works by Fanny Mendelssohn (rather than her brother) and Florence Price, the Eureka Ensemble took a step in the direction of reshaping the classical music canon in a more inclusive way. Andrés’ contextualization of each piece simultaneously acknowledged the pervasive hurdles of racism and sexism in classical music history while also celebrating the wonderfully moving works as artistic achievements in and of themselves. In seeing young listeners presented with works by Price and Mendelssohn along with Haydn, I witnessed a much-needed restructuring of the configuration of the traditional Western classical music canon. The young listeners, however, heard it all simply as classical music. This is precisely what the reshaping of the canon should look like.
Having spent the first half of the program on these performances, the quartet turned to some hands-on music-making through the use of percussion instruments. Some of the children grabbed maracas and claves, while others went for the miniature congas or bongos. Spontaneous drum solos ensued before everyone was rallied together to perform a rhythm in unison. The quartet proceeded to play through a number of pop hits, including “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, “The Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran, and “Pump It” by the Black Eyed Peas, each of which was easily named by one of the kids. Playing a supportive role to the quartet, the children had the chance to connect more intimately with the music and even learned about musical dynamics. Describing how the quartet plays loudly or softly at different times, Andrés advised the young drummers to be attuned to the change in volume and to adapt to it in their own playing. With some basic conducting, the children were able to navigate the rise and fall of the Sheeran piece, which was a huge hit among the eager novice percussionists.
After the last piece was performed, children and parents started to trickle out of the room, though a few stuck around to try out some percussion toys. Perhaps most moving, however, was when Quantae, eager to learn more about the violin, approached Leonardo. Quantae soon found himself sitting down to receive his first introductory violin lesson, with eager smiles from the rest of the quartet who chimed in now and then to give advice on how to hold the bow. A truly beautiful moment, this was the perfect ending to a magical morning.
Eureka Ensemble has one more performance this season for its Fearless campaign, which will be held at the Chinatown branch of the Boston Public Library on Wednesday, April 17 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. For next season, Eureka plans to continue its Fearless campaign and hopes to expand from six to eight events, each at a separate branch of the Boston Public Library. Please consider donating so that the Eureka Ensemble can bring more programs like Fearless to venues across Boston.
