The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 16, 1984 - Page 7

Kuijken Quartet
performs with
taste and dignity

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By Mike Gallatin
Heard melodies are sweet, but
those unheard! Are sweeter;
r: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on -
John Keats in "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
SM UCH THE same may be said
about the Kuijken Quartet who
:- performed early Baroque music on
original instruments this past Tuesday
evening at Rackham Auditorium. Their
selection of music, the manner in which
they played and the authenticity of the
o musical sound they produced all con-
tributed to a concert of exquisite taste
and dignity.
The Kuijen Quartet from Belgium is
so named because three of the mem-
bers are brothers. The concert marked
a triple tricentennial celebration of the
birthdays of Handel, Bach and Scarlat-
ti; all of whom were born in 1685.
Barthold Kuijken played an original
Baroque flute which possessed a reedy
and remarkably smooth wooden sound,
Wieland Kuijken played viola da gam-
ba. Viola da gamba as the word viola
suggests is somewhere between an
early version of a violin and cello. The
instrument has a delicate and soft tone
color as opposed to the brilliance and
intensity of the violin. The sound holes
are shaped like a 'C' rather than a 'F'
and the six strings are tuned in fourths
with a third in the middle more like a
guitar. "Da gamba" translates to "on
the leg" and the instrument rests on the
l leg more like a cello than on the
shoulder like a viola.
The program began with a Trio
Sonata by Handel. In addition to mar-
velous ensemble playing and a wonder-
ful cooperation between the parts the
group as a whole produced a
remarkable sound unlike what one
normally hears due to the unique tone
of the instruments.
A normal performance with modern-
lay instruments simply lacks the
"' authenticity the Kuijken Quartet
possessed and consequently the music
seemed transformed into something
; lse.

Second on the program was a Paris
Quartet by Telemann. Again the group
displayed not so much a dazzling vir-
tuosity but a consistent quality of high
musicianship.
Telemann's work proceeds in a stan-
dard slow-fast-slow form in each
movement and the group played with
an energetic yet leisurely, timeless
tempo. Energy is not faster tempos, but
rather instilling energy into the tempos
as they are. The flute was constantly
dolce and cantabile and filled the
pregnant pauses with an echo of
eloquent silence.
Scarlatti opened the second half of
the concert as Robert Kohnen played
two sonatas on the harpsichord. As an
example of early music on original in-
struments one couldn't make a better
choice. Scarlatti was to the keyboard
what Corellie was to the violin.
The sonatas display for the first time
the crossing of the hands, passage work
in sixths and thirds, wide leaps, ar-
peggios in contrary motion and rapidly
repeating notes - all of which were far
more impressive on this harpsichord
than if they were played on the piano.
The concert concluded with a suite by
Jean-Marie Leclair which represented
a fusion of the French and Italian styles
of the day. The overture began with a
slow introduction and then was followed
by a lively movement in a fugal style.
The various dance forms that remained
achieved their special quality through
the variation of tempo and meter. For
example, the Sarabande was in 3/4 meter
and consisted of a slow and stately tempo
while the concluding Tambourin was
generally in 2/4 meter and was played
with a lively tempo.
As a whole, the program and the per-
formers communicated a calm
serenity; the melodies were soothing,
the harmonies pleasant, the cadences
predictable and the sound euphonious.
For devotees of classical music the
concert was a rare delight as the final
result was a timeless quality created
from music speaking across the cen-
turies and imparting the same message
now that it did then. Like the Scarlatti
sonatas, the music was cheerful even
when played in a minor key.


Sweet Lou
Legendary songwriter Lou Reed, long regarded as one of American's most
intriguing talents, brings his band to Hill Auditorium tonight on the heels of
his critically acclaimed New Sensations album. The show starts at 8p.m.,
with the Swimming Pool Q's.
Queen Idia
brings zydeco
to ballroom

o Going
Thank;
Take sor
just your
T-shirts..
sweatsui
beer mu
Monday-Fr
Saturday 9:



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By Andy Weine
What do you get when you mix jazz,I
country music, rock & roll, Cajun,1
calypso, reggae, rhythm and blues, and;
Latin music? The ingredients yield
zydeco, an ethnic musical style arising
from the bayoues of Louisiana but1
having roots in French Canada,
Africa, the Carribean, and Latini
America.
Ida Guillory, better known as Queen
Ida, will g ive Ann Arbor a rare taste of
zydeco tonight at the Michigan Union
Ballroom. Her six-member Bon Temps
Zydeco Band will join her in rousing
their unique blend of music known for
its romping dance appeal and sense of
good fun.
Ida's history is a success story you'd
mistake for a cheap Hollywood screen-;
play. She picked up the accordion ten
years ago (solely out of boredom) and
played it publicly (urged by others, that
is) for the first time at a church
festival, where a San Francisco
Chronicle writer lauded her. The
phones started ringing the next day and
haven't stopped since then.
It's been an easy uphill climb to
popularity for this lady who never
asked to be a star, and for her hodge-
podge style known as zydeco. She and
her band have toured the world, in-
cluding frequent shows in Europe. In
1980, she was nominated for a Grammy
award, and in 1983, she won it with her
Correction
The photograph of the band, Rain
Parade, that appeared on yesterday
morning's Arts page was taken by
Daily photographer Stu Weidenback. Hi-
s credit inadvertently did not appear
with his photogtraph.

1982 album, "Queen Ida-On Tour."
Much of zydeco music is sung in
French, due to its Louisianan and
Canadian origins, but that doesn't
lessen its appeal to English-speaking
audiences. Critics from San Francisco
to Denver to Winnepeg have raved in
Queen Ida's wake, and many a listener
have sweated it out on the dance floor.
She's been a hit at several musical
festivals too, including the Monterey
Jazz Festival and the San Francisco
Blues Festival. She has released five
albums and also played the score for
"Rumble Fish," a recently released
film, direced by Francis Ford Coppola.
Queen Ida was last in town a year ago
to get people's fingers snapping and
legs shaking on a packed floor. The
Union Ballroom should afford plenty of
space for the necessary bopping and
grooving, which in Queen Ida's per-
formances is mandatory, for zydeco is
music that sparks your dancing spirit
and just won't let you sit back.
qr-SHIRT
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From 10-800 T-shirts screenprint-
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home for
sgiving?
mething home besides
dirty laundry.
..travel bags....
its....doodle pads....
gs... .and more.
riday 8:30-5:30
3:30-5:00

Main Store:
459 E. University
Ann


SOth Anniversary
501934-1984
MORE THAN A BOOKSTORE
Electronics Showroom:
1110 S. University
Arbor, MI 48104 (313)662-3201

s

/AINTAT ARBOXX


The Godfather
The Godfather of hip-hop and the renegade of funk Afrika Bambatta brings
his world famous rap to the University Club tonight as part of the celebrity
d. j series. The show featuring the founder of the Zulu Nation starts at 9 p.m.

A.-rS I


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