actuellecd

Review

Grant Chu Covell, La Folia, November 1, 2015

As a collection, Cage’s string quartets permit an ensemble to explore different ways of collaborating. The String Quartet in Four Parts was written just before Cage’s plunge into chance. It’s traditionally notated and organized akin to the micro and macro structures Cage explored in his early percussion music. The Bozzini pivots expertly between delicate antique and dissonant chords. Thirty Pieces and Four are from the same decade, however are separated by a divide. Thirty Pieces consist of essentially 120 one-minute solos delivered four at a time. Each player prepares independently and in performance they coordinate as little as possible and spread themselves at far distances around the audience. It’s an accidental quartet; modern, aggressive, and lightly sprinkled with extended techniques and microtones. Four operates at a low threshold with neutral singularities. Chords and coincidences are expected but details are unpremeditated. Tones appear, unornamented, nearly expressionless and ugly. There’s a passage starting around 22:13 hinting at Mozart’s Dissonant. Here the Bozzinis demonstrate their impressive range, playing together, apart and indifferently.

Here the Bozzinis demonstrate their impressive range, playing together, apart and indifferently.