This afternoon the renown Arditti Quartet from London performed to a full house at Mills College in Oakland as part of the »Mills Music Festival, and in the newly reopened concert hall. It was stunning.

This band can play anything put in front of them. One of the composers on the program told me that the quartet only had one hour to learn his new piece and they “nailed it” on the first go. The group exudes professionalism and virtuosity.

I’ve seen them many times before, but in earlier reincarnations. This time the only “original” member is the leader, Irvine Arditti, and I think they sound better than ever.

The program had strong roots in the Mills music department. All the composers teach or taught at Mills.

Alvin Curran’s VSTO, originally composed in 1988 for choreographer (and Mills graduate) Trisha Brown, revised in 1994, and now in “version 2.5″ for the Arditti was a wonderful study in contrasts. Octave consonance trades with calm dissonance, and even some twisted shtetl tunes. Curran said that “there is nothing to understand here .. just let it happen.” And we did. I loved it. (The title, by the way, is an abbreviation of the house address of Curran’s teacher, Giacinto Scelsi, in Rome: Via San Teodoro Otto)

Chris Brown’s 69-measure Arcade  progresses from dissonance to consonance, in tune to out of tune, working out the 69 permutations of the numbers 2 thru 9 in an extension of some of Henry Cowell’s techniques. Brown said it all happens pretty fast, like a quick walk thru an arcade. This tricky little piece, just lasting a few minutes and ending in a blast of pizziccato, was worth many more quick walks.

For Fred Frith’s Allegory, the quartet was joined by the composer playing electric guitar. But the guitar sounds were not only soft but also unlike any guitar part you might expect. Frith, with the guitar flat on its back on a table behind the quartet, made the quietest electronic noises to accompany and intrude on abrupt bursts from the quartet. And in time the improvised commentary turned folksy and sweet.

Mexican composer (now living in London) Hilda Paredes’s Cuerdas del Destino (Strings of Destiny) used the sonorities of the quartet as an integral part of the piece. With slow glissandi throughout, contrasting sections would often reappear in a fascinating array of changes and transformations. A virtuoso piece with great effect.

The afternoon concert ended with a classic from 1983 by Iannis Xenakis, Tetras, which was written for the quartet and is part of the core repertory they are most know for. An extremely difficult work to do well, the Arditti gave it an exciting performance that seemed near perfect and absolutely amazing. (Check out »their recordings of Xenakis)

The Arditti, performing now for 35 years, is an important force extending the repertory of the string quartet. Their excellent sense of balance is amazing, with complete control of their instruments .. in fact, they sound as a single instrument. See them whenever you can, and marvel at their recordings.

Forgot to mention:
The Xenakis Tetras required two music stands per musician. Unfolding the many pages across the stands caused some comments from the audience, to which Irvine Arditti, the first violinist, added: “Some pieces are very long; this one is very wide.”

The quartet got a standing ovation and four curtain calls from the full house. A great turnout for a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon!