If the chamber music business ever went sour, the four members of the Juilliard String Quartet wouldn't have to starve. They could become relationship counselors.
That's not as facetious as it may sound. Think about it. The group, a longtime pacesetter in the chamber music world, had the same first violinist from its founding in 1946 until 1997. Two current members have been in place at least 30 years — which means they spent more than 20 years with that original first fiddle.
"Quartet playing has been compared in some ways to marriage," violist Samuel Rhodes said. "Marriage can be the most wonderful thing in the world. It can also be a nightmare."
The Juilliard group, which plays Saturday at Queens University of Charlotte, obviously has made its musical marriage work.
There's more to that than survival. For nearly 60 years, the group has maintained a distinctive profile. Its vivid, dynamic style has been a constant, along with its devotion to new music as much as standard repertoire.
"The continuity is there because the goals of the group are the same and the outlook of the group is the same," Rhodes said. Since 1946, 11 musicians — including the current four — have played in the group. The changes have occurred one at a time, and years apart. The result, he said, is "a core and a tradition" that hold up over time.
When time comes to find a new member, Rhodes said, the traditions are guideposts. Someone unwilling to put in long hours to master a challenging new piece, for instance, would be out of the running.
Musical affinities are important too, of course. The trick is that the tradition is being carried on by four people — each with a distinct personality. You can see how the marriage metaphor applies again.
"You have to be very strong about what you feel and how you present it, but not so inflexible that you can't be influenced by other people's strengths," Rhodes said. "When that works... each person contributes their own voice, their own way of feeling, their own sound into the musical dialogue."
Naturally, he said, musical disagreements arise. When they do, "we don't deal with the egos, we deal with the material.
"If there's conflict, you make something positive out of the conflict. If there is one, it's probably something in the music that motivated the conflict. And you bring that part of the music out."
In Charlotte, the group's 45-minute performance will help celebrate the 20th anniversary of Queens' Friends of Music series — whose celebration night will include pre- and post-concert parties for people who pay $175 apiece. But ordinary music lovers can go just to the concert. The program will hold Mozart's genial "Prussian" Quartet, K. 575, and Antonin Dvorak's Quartet in C major, Op. 61 — "a beautiful piece that's not so well-known," Rhodes said.
"In the slow movement, there's an atmospheric picture — almost like a pastoral scene, like two lovers in a beautiful forest. You can hear the murmuring of nature and the wind blowing. It's a whole picture that's really quite wonderful."
PREVIEW
Juilliard String Quartet
The group plays music by Mozart and Antonin Dvorak.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Dana Auditorium, Queens University of Charlotte, 1900 Selwyn Ave.
TICKETS: $25.
DETAILS: (704) 337-2213.
