WHAT IS AMERICAN | TEXTURA

PUBLIQuartet: What Is American
Bright Shiny Things

With What Is American, PUBLIQuartet distances itself mightily from other string quartets, not so much for the particular thematic material grappled with but for the way in which it's tackled. For here is a group that plays more like an improvising jazz ensemble of string players than a formal classical string quartet; better yet, violinists Jannina Norpoth and Curtis Stewart, violist Nick Revel, and cellist Hamilton Berry sound wholly comfortable inhabiting that performative milieu. Moving beyond notation into improvisation is a daring move that involves a different skill-set, but the four show they're eminently up to the challenge.

One of the things at which PUBLIQuartet excels is re-imagining classical material by incorporating improv, and there's no better illustration of it than its treatment of Antonin Dvorák's “American” Quartet. Complementary to the “New World Symphony” composed just before it, his twelfth string quartet is given an improv-driven makeover that sounds unlike any performance the work has previously received. As in the symphony, an abundance of folk themes—by turns radiant, melancholy, and wistful—adds engaging personality to the material, but it's the assured playing and bluesy wail of the quartet that makes the piece memorable. Hearing the four tear into the “Vivace ma non troppo” with abandon is pure joy, and the music's roots in American Indigenous and Black music are clearly audible throughout.