BY LAURA BIEMMI, TRENDS EDITOR
It’s almost fateful that this year marks both the the 75th anniversary of Musica Viva’s first performance and the 25th anniversary of the Goldner String Quartet’s inception.
To celebrate two such significant milestones in Australia’s musical landscape, Musica Viva has commissioned young Adelaide composer Jakub Jankowski to compose a string quartet for the Goldner String Quartet to be performed across the country in April.
A graduate of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Jakub’s music has been performed by prestigious chamber ensembles such as the Seraphim Trio and the Benaud Trio, and at a wide array of festivals including the Coriole Music Festival and the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival.
In his second collaboration with Musica Viva, we chat with Jakub about his String Quartet No. 1 Kairos, his compositional process, and his personal connection with chamber music.
Hi, Jakub! How are you feeling in the lead-up to Goldner String Quartet’s performance of Kairos?
At this stage, I’m nervous. I’m seemingly always nervous at this stage, right up until I hear the piece at the first rehearsal. When I’m trying out new things, and I’m not completely sure how everything is going to turn out, I feel worried about the piece.
However, that usually goes away after the first rehearsal with the players! From then on, there’s less and less anxiety.
Tell us a bit about Kairos. What does the work mean to you, and how did it all come together?
Kairos is an ancient Greek word for time. But it’s not the measured, sequential time that we’re used to thinking about. It’s more of a subjective, personal experience of a turning point in time.
In a lot my work, different things inspire the music, the material, and how it all comes together, and this felt like the most suitable thing to summarise the essence of the piece.
As for how I went about composing the quartet, I had a basic structure that I wanted, and within that, I just followed the music wherever it took me. Sometimes, that led me down the wrong path, and I had to discard material that didn’t fit.
It’s funny that sometimes, what you want to do and what the music wants to do is not always the same. But in the end, the music is always correct. And once it’s all finished, you think ‘yes, that’s how it’s all meant to be’. Very rarely do I end up writing the piece I set out to write.
You previously worked with Musica Viva for its 2017 festival – so how does it feel to be asked back for its 2020 series?
It’s a big honour to be asked back for the 2020 series, given that it’s the last concert season to be programmed by [Musica Viva artistic director] Carl Vine. But every time with Musica Viva, it means a lot to be asked.
To be part of an international concert season program is a lot of responsibility; your piece is going to be played multiple times in different venues around the country. It’s a tremendous opportunity to be given as a young composer.
To work with performers of such calibre as the Goldner String Quartet is an achievement in and of itself. What’s it like to collaborate with the quartet, and how do you go about preparing music for such a landmark ensemble?
They are such an incredible quartet, and each player is a master of their instrument. Every time you write for a group like that, you have to ask, ‘What can I give to a group like that?’. You don’t want to insult players like that with simplistic music; you want to try to push yourself to put something before them that’s worthy of their musicality and their level of expertise.
I like the idea of challenging the players somehow, or pushing them in a different direction that they haven’t explored before. But there is difficulty in writing for players at that level, because they’ve seen so much music in their time, and they’ve premiered a lot of great Australian repertoire as well!
It’s pretty exciting that this year marks both the 25th anniversary of the Goldner String Quartet and the 75th anniversary of Musica Viva. How do you approach composing for events such as these?
Knowing that it’s a big anniversary year for Goldner and Musica Viva, it seems that I pushed myself and the experience of chamber music. I kind of went a bit more ‘all out’; I wasn’t as careful or restrained with some of the material.
I felt like this was a good opportunity to ‘go for it’ a bit more, but in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Nothing is ground-breaking or revolutionary, but this quartet is a different way of approaching chamber music than I have done in the past.
You appear to have a keen interest in composing chamber music. What does this particular form of music mean to you?
I feel as though chamber music is kind of the essence of what we call ‘classical music’ or concert music. I think chamber music is what it’s all about: listening carefully and responding. The best orchestras in the world essentially function as large chamber ensembles!
I also think you need to go into the details of the individual notes and sounds when you’re composing chamber music, or when you’re playing chamber music for that matter.
I also think that chamber music allows you to be more daring with your ideas, and go into more detail, and be bold.
Listen to Jakub’s composition performed in the Goldner String Quartet & Piers Lane events, which form part of the Musica Viva 2020 International Concert Season. For the full program, line-up, and event dates in your city, visit the website.
We teamed up with Musica Viva to bring you this story about Jakub’s new composition opportunity! Stay tuned for more coverage of new music and its presentation in Australia!
Image supplied.
