BACKGROUND
In 2004, Gavriel Lipkind started experimenting with new approaches to ensemble playing. These efforts gave birth to the evolution of the Lipkind Quartet, the Cello Concertante programs for cello and strings, as well as the Lipkind Plays series which he produces together with his wife, the violinist Anna Lipkind.
Gavriel Lipkind in an interview:
“ [...] not only the reasons which brought musicians to play in an ensemble have changed, also the science of psycho-acoustics and instrumental knowledge have evolved.
Finally, being a musician, working as a musician, and collaborating with other musicians in a chamber group on a regular basis in the 21st century, are light-years away from the realities of the past. The traditional ways of working in an ensemble, which are based on these past realities, require a fundamental review and a radical re-thinking in order to fit the way ensembles can live and sound today. […]
When I started researching this field, many string ensembles seemed to blindly follow traditional models believing that these evolved over hundreds of years and (therefore) cannot be further optimised. We started by looking for new ways to improve the interpretative process, and trying practical “codes of conduct” by which an ensemble functions. […]
Musically speaking, we found ourselves confronting strange questions such as:
- Where does continuity come from? Is it the tempo / dynamic anticipation / harmonic tension? Or is there another underlying interpretative tool; a principle that defines Schubert’s time-space and allows us to 'connect the dots’ in the listener’s mind?
- Is there a principle according to which time can be shaped throughout the movement? Or should we intuitively apply rubato / rhythmicity / and tempo changes? Maybe rather just play strictly what’s written; hoping that the notation itself perfectly represents the music? Maybe not...
- If a note has a beginning — the so called articulation phase — how long does it last exactly? Is it a point in time or something than can be shaped? Is it a noise or a tone? What other qualities does the articulation have that can be interpreted? What happens to the string?
- Is it important that violinists hold the instrument upside down comparing to cellists? What happens when we try to use an identical bow stroke / diagonal / body movement?
- How to interpret together not just the absolute instrumental qualities but the rate of change between them. For example a bow stroke that slows down in a specific way, the shape and gradual widening of a vibrato, dynamic waves and “tides”, the softness of the left hand and how gradually it shifts from one note to another.
- Why is there a discrepancy between harmonic intonation and tempered intonation? How to apply this to the musical texture? How to develop one kind of in-tune-ness?
[...] 'Lipkind plays Schubert' superimposes three contrasting works by the composer, thereby hoping to reveal what it is that makes this music’s irreproachable simplicity and inherent beauty so recognisably understandable and instantly close to our heart. "